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THE 

NEW LIGHT; 

OR, DISCOURSES 

ON THE 

CHEISTIAN CHUECH; 

ON THE 

EVILS OF SECTARIANISM; 

AND ON THE 

TRUE MANNER OF BECOMING CHRISTIANS. 
— ALSO— 

DISSERTATIONS ON INFANTS, IDIOTS, AND PAGAx^S: 
TOGETHER WITH INQUIRIES INTO THE ORIGIN 

OF THE NEGRO RACE, ESSx\YS ON . 
ABOLITIONISM, FREE-MASONRY, 
ODD-FELLOWSHIP, 

&c. &:,c. &LC. 



^"S^'^^'S^-^ N 



BY JASON DARROW. 

*• But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worship* 
pers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Fath^ 
er seeketh such to worship him." — John iv. 23. 



COVINGTON, KY: 

PRINTED FOR TIIS AUTHOR AT THE OFFICE OF TUB * 'LICKING 
VALLEY REGISTER.'' 



1846. 






I "> ^ 



Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1846, 

By JASON DARROW, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Ohio. 



%^' 



H. January & H* H. Snow, Printers. 



PREFACE. 

Every author who solicits a hearing from the 
public, has, or ought to have, some justifiable rea- 
sons or causes moving him to the publication of his 
sentiments. I have my reasons inducing me to pub- 
lish the following work, which, in a short way I will 
now submit to the public. If my reasons be good, 
I have confidence that everv Imnest man will hear 
me patiently through: but vrhether they be good or 
bad must be left to the judgment of the reader him- 
self. For my own part, I feel justified, upon a strict 
survey of the whole ground and foundation of the 
Christian faith, however others may think, in laying 
m}^ Book before the public; because 1 think it will 
do good. To do good is the highest desire of my 
heart: to do good and to receive good in imparting 
it to others, are the objects for which, as I believe, 1 
have been endued with life and means; and before 
divine providence calls me away to a better worlds 
I desire to write and to leave behind me, in this, the 
reasons of my faith in the plan of salvation as pro- 
posed in the Holy Scriptures; together with such re- 
marks and inferences as I have made and drawn 
from bible fact and bible doctrine. I believe lam 
required to do this by the following considerations, 

1. It is well known to all persons of any reflec- 
tion, that the Christian World, so called, is divided 
into a multitude of contending sects, and parties, 
all more or less impinging and opposing each other 
— all having individual and selfish interests of their 



IV PREFACE. 

own to look after and maintain. This state of 
things has been from its beginning, and is to the 
present hour, vastly prejudicial to the true interests 
and influences of the gospel. It is the source of 
much of the unbelief and deism and atheism which 
spread over the land like " the pestilence that walk- 
eth in darkness,^' or as the plague "that wasteth at 
noon-day. '^ I have proved, in the following work, 
that the whole of this sectarianism is wrong — that 
it is wholly opposed to the letter and spirit of the 
gospel — that having its origin in the principle of 
moral death, it leads and must lead its votaries to 
confusion. Reader, do not pre-judge me, as to this 
matter: read the articles on this subject, consult 
the evidences I have adduced, and, if you are a 
truth-loving man, you will concur with me that the 
whole of Romish and Protestant Sectarianism is 
wrong — that it came neither from God, nor the Bi- 
ble, nor from the Prophets, nor Apostles; but has its 
source in the " good words and fair speeches," of 
men "who follow notour Lord Jesus Christ, but 
their own belly." Read me first, and then judge. 

2. As we have in our country at this time a num- 
ber of men who style themselves philosophers, or 
lovers of wisdom, but who not only deny the being 
and attributes of the God of the Bible, but the 
mission and Sonship of Jesus Christ, together with 
the inspirations of the Holy Spirit,! deemit proper to 
intersperse through my book some brief demonstra- 
tions of the truth that there is aGorf all-wise, merciful, 
just and good — that he has spoken to the human fam- 
ily — that Jesus of Nazareth is his only proper Son — 



PREFACE. V 

that the Holy Spirit is given to all persons who be- 
lieve and obey the truth — that the Apostles of Je- 
sus have, to this day, divine and infallible authority 
over, and wisdom in the church to guide all its faith- 
ful members to eternal life — and that the Holy 
Scriptures, given "at sundry times and in divers 
manners" to the ancients, have come down to us 
pure and holy, and form now the only authoritative 
and infallible rule of faith and manners. To this 
department of my work the attention of the unbe- 
liever is particular!}' solicited. Let him read my ar- 
guments and proofs before he ventures to laugh and 
make himself merry. Let him remember, that death 
to him, if he refuse to believe and be quickened by 
the word of Christ, and thus to become ^'a new 
creature," will be, what he says it is, an eternal 
or "an everlasting destruction!" Over such a 
scene can he laugh, and yet hold any claim to the 
appellation of a rational being? Who can derive 
any comfort from so revolting and appalling a fact, 
while he feels within himself an unquenchable de- 
sire to live forever, and for ever to be happy? Un- 
believer, before you begin to laugh and ridicule, go 
to the grave-yard and survey the mighty army of its 
dead; ponder well the import of death and the un- 
seen world; tell us the secrets of " the house ap- 
pointed for all living-/' or, tell, if you can, what 
death is, or own, like a lover of truth, that all yonr 
philosophy is dumb and blind to what it is! Before 
you utter your scorn at the christian faith, ask wheth- 
er there be not something in it most agreeable to 
the human heart, to all our feelings, to our love of 



Tl PREFACE. 

life, to every thing intelligent within us, and to eve» 
ry impulse and passion of O'lr nature. If you wish 
to live for ever, as I know you do, there is no hope 
for such a life in all the vast Empire of Almighty 
God except in the gospel of his Son, in the resur- 
rection from the dead of Jesus Christ the Lord. 

3. As there are many, even among professing 
Christians, who, as it appears to me, are ignorant of 
the way and manner in which men are commanded 
to come to God and be saved; who do not under- 
stand how to become christians or saints — I have 
thought proper to give this subject a part of my at- 
tention. ]n order to do which, 1 have fully proved 
that Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on 
the earth; that his laws are binding on all intelli- 
gent human beings; and that, what he requires to 
be believed and done by one such being in order to 
salvation, he requires of all. Following out this 
chain of truth, I have run upon the popular errors 
of the times, which errors I have endeavored to ex- 
plode by the power of truth, in such a manner as 
will give no offence to the lovers of truth. I have 
produced the authority of Jesus Christ and his apos- 
tles: if men will not hear or venerate this, it must 
be because they love darkness rather than light, 
their deeds being evil. I have made this way plain, 
as the way to the Way; so that, those who are out 
of Christ THE WAY, may find access to him and be 
saved from their sins. 

4. As the religious world hitherto, for many 
hundreds of years, have, for the most part, been ig- 
norant of how far the gospel holds claim upon man- 



PREFACE. \11 

kind — over what persons its authority and claim ex- 
tend — I have felt called upon to set this matter in 
its true light. And here Iwill state, as it were in 
advance to the reader, that there are three classes 
or portions of the human family that will not be 
benefitted, in the next world, by the gospel — that is, 
who cannot receive the blessings which are promis- 
ed only to the believer who is holy. 

The first class are infants. These will rest in 
the sleep of death, an everlasting and eternal re- 
pose, and be as though they never had been, I see 
nothing in the Bible that teaches or implies their 
resurrection. They appear to be parts of the hu- 
man material which, by the necessity of the case, 
are forbidden to live in this world, or to come to 
knowledge; for, as will be seen, knowledge or in- 
telligence influenced or sanctified by the wisdom 
from above, is necessary before death to convey the 
right to the tree of life afterwards. 

The second class are idiots. TheBibleis wholly 
silent about the future life of these unfortunate be- 
ings, as we would call them — though in fact they 
will be vastly more fortunate, humanly speaking, 
than thousands of the great kings, nobles and lords 
of the earth, who, in lives of protracted impiety 
have disgraced both their own nature and the name 
of the Son of God. The idiot will sleep, and sleep 
for ever; he will sleep so soundly that neither the 
iToice of the Archangel, nor the trump of God will 
molest his slumbers. He is a fragment of human- 
ity, not a full man, and it seems that no account is 
hereafter to be taken of him. It oppears to me 



\in PREFACE. 

that the future world neither needs his presence, nor 
provides him a habitation. Neither he nor the little 
infant is to be punished— for this would be unjust: 
death is their full and eternal annihilation. Having 
never enjoyed intellectual and rational existence, 
there is no injustice in withholding it from them, any 
more than there is in withholding it from the dust of 
the field. 

Much the same may be said of the Pagans, or 
heathen^ the third class, who never heard of God, or 
knew any thing of his law. Having known noth- 
ing they did nothing, could do nothing to merit ev- 
erlasting punishment, and therefore it is not rob- 
bing them to keep from them what they never had. 
Hence, they, too, will never live beyond the grave. 
Death is their end. When they died, it was " as the 
beast dieth '^— they become as though they had not 
been. 

Upon the whole, it is a principle of the Bible, 
"that he that cometh to God must believe that he is, 
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek 
him,^' and that, '• without faith it is impossible to 
please God*" But, neither the heathen, nor unintel- 
ligent infants, nor idiots, have faith in God: they do 
not, therefore, in this moral sense, either please or 
displease him — -there is no moral action required of 
them— they are irresponsible^ — they know no lavr 
and have broke none. If, by reasoni of their pro- 
genitors they have come to a fragmentary life, this, 
if it be a fault, is. i>ot theirs, but that of those pro- 
genitors, or an inevitable fatality of their nature. I 
do not know that these views are very important; 



PREFACE, IX 

but all truth is more or less so according to the influ- 
ences it is designed to exert upon the human spirit. 
Truth is as a chain made up of a certain number of 
links^ eYOYV one of which is important to the form 
and consistence of the whole chain. 

5. As the times are becoming more and more 
corrupt, iniquity finds new channels and forms of de- 
velopment, and seaks to maintain, at the same time, 
its old and time-worn institutions: so that I find it 
incumbent on me to lift up a standard against some 
particular things that seem to me to interfere with 
the benevolence of the gospel. Among these I 
would name Free-Masonry and Odd-Fellowship. I 
have paid some attention to these secret societies, 
and shown them all to be uncalled-for modes of 
charity. If the gospel fail to warm the heart and 
reform the life; if it cannot open the channels of 
love and benevolence to the poor and needy, and 
'^ make the widow's heart sing for joy;" if '''■ the mys- 
tery of the faith in a pure conscience," an angel of 
mercy descending from lieaven to bless mankind in 
the form of Jesus dying for sin, buried, risen from 
the dead, cannot fill the heart with desires to do and 
to receive good-— all the mysteries and secrets and 
signs and gibberish of Masonry and Odd-^Feilowship 
must prove as powerless as moonshine upon the 
snows of December. Restore to the gospel its 
primitive influence, and to the church of Christ her 
original love and unity, and there will be no need 
of these secret societies to alleviate the miseries of 
mankind, no need of concealing the light under a 
bushel orbed: on the contrary, the light will siiine 



X PREFACE, 

SO that all can rejoice in it. A public profession of 
the faith will be a public pledge, known and read 
of all men, that the obedient believer will conse- 
crate not only his body, soul, and spirit, to the ser- 
vice of his master, but his goods to feed the poor 
and his labor to him that hath need* Give Christ 
the honors due to his name, and all the good done to 
the human race will redound to the glory of that 
name. 

6. ¥/hile our country to the south ond north is 
being agitated by the doctrines of Abolitionism^ and 
many minds are bewildered and confused by those 
doctrines and the incessant harrangues of stump 
demagogues, I have, in the following work, attempt- 
ed to settle that question upon its true basis. It was 
plain to me, that if we are to regard the Negro 
l\ace as truly and properly human, their enslave- 
ment as we see it in the United States, could not be 
justified upon principles of moral equity. Hooked, 
then, not only into the condition of the negro tribes, 
but into their history so far as I could trace it, and 
into their physical constitution; and the result of 
my investigations is this, thrit they are not hu- 
man, or only partly so, a mixture, a mongrel tribe 
partly beast and partly human, a compound most 
enormous and revolting! If so, then they not only 
must be in subjection io^ so long as we find them 
among us, but they ought to be so. Had God made 
them at the original creation, he would have made 
them free: but as he did not make them, as they are 
a second-creation without his will or concurrence, 
having neither his image nor the image of the prim- 



PREFACE. XI 

itive Man, and a deep grade below the dignity of 
true humanity, while they dwell in our midst there 
is but one decree for them, namely, that of perpet- 
ual slavery. 

7. That the evils of Sectarianism may appear to 
the better advantage, I have taken special pains to 
present a portrait of the primitive church, as she 
stood organized by the authority of the apostles. I 
have proved her unity, with the necessity of the 
continuance of that unity through all time. The 
case is argued from a multitude of Scriptures: — the 
reader is requested to give special attention to the 
chapters on this subject. The name of the Church 
has occupied part of my attention, and the nick- 
names of modern times are wholly discarded. 

Upon the whole, I have endeavored to manage the 
whole treatise in a way plainly to tell the truth, but 
at the same time so to speak as to give merited of- 
fence to no one. The whole is spread before an 
indulgent public solely for the benefit of mankind. 
The above seven items comprehend most thati shall 
have to saj^ in the following volume; they present a 
general outline of the field over which the reader is 
requested to follow me. Nevertheless, many other 
things will fall incidentally in our way, to which 
also we will pay the requisite attention in passing 
along. — As I said before, so let me repeat, I desire 
above all things to say and do something while I 
live that may be of utility to my fellow citizens af- 
ter lam gone. Ever since my mind has been direc- 
ted to the Bible and the glorious things therein re- 
vealed, the world has lost its charms. I feel that I 



XU PREFACE. 

care not for the world. My home is in heaven, the 
better country, the happy land. Reader, I desire 
you should read the Bible, that you should under- 
stand it, that you should obey the Author of it in all 
he says to you, aud that at last you may reap the re- 
ward of the faithful, "the gift of God, which is 
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Warren County O. > JASON DARROW. 
December 11, I8i5. 1 



Am 






h:^ 




THE NEW LIGHT. 



CHAPTER I. 

Of the primitive Christian Church — Of the One Lord of Chris- 
tians — Of the One Faith — Of the One Baptism — Of the One 
God and Father of all — Of Ihe church as honored and dignified 
in the spiritual worship of the paternal Deity through his Son — 
Of the manner of manifesting the divine benevolence and phi- 
lanthropy — Greatness of God's Love — L nparaliielled increase of 
the original Church — Conclusion. 

Taking it for granted that there is a God in the 
heavens who rules over the affairs of the earth; — 
that he has spoken to man in human language, re- 
vealed his own nature most clearly, and along with 
it the nature of man; — and that the missions of Je- 
sus and of the Holy Spirit are from the source of 
Eternal Wisdom and Power, and thus by implica- 
tion that the mission of the Apostles of Jesus is from 
the same source; I will, in the first place, speak 
of the church founded by them, and of the evils 
that have resulted to the world by a neglect of and 
disrespect for the apostolic doctrine. Of the church 
I shall speak somewhat at large but in general 
terms; and of the corruptions of Christianity which 
began early to be introduced, of Sectarianism in its 



14 THE NEW LIGHT. 

numerous branches, ancient and modern, I will treat 
more particularly; because those evils and abuses 
ought to be reformed, and a heallhy action of the 
vital functions of the church superinduced. 

Of the church of Christ, then, as it was estab- 
lished by his Apostles, we have the most enlarged 
and clear descriptions in the books of the New Tes- 
tament, especially in the Acts of the apostles and 
in the Epistles. The church is spoken of as having 
''one Lord."^ Did she need more? Could she serve 
more than one? She had not two Lords, one in 
heaven and the other on the earth, one invisible and 
the other visible, oncj called Jesus Christ, and the 
other 'Mils holiness the Pope!" In primitive times 
the church had no head on the earth, in shape ei- 
ther of pope, general council, or an earthly mon- 
arch on his throne, as in the^c last times. The 
church did not see her Head otherwise than as faith 
apprehended him — "in whom," S'lys Peter, "though 
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the 
end of your faith, even the salvation of your 
souls." a Being thus called to the enjoyment of 
the most perfect liberty, the members of the chris- 
tian church had nothing to do but to serve their 
invisible Master by doing to each other and to all 
men the good that lay in their power. They kept 
themselves " unspotted from the world" by loving 
liim and keeping his commandments. They over- 
came the world by their faith in the Son of God who 
loved them and gave himself for them. Thus Jthey 
had "one Lord." 
a 1 Pet. i. 8. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 15 

The church has " one faith.'^'^ This was composed 
of all that Jesus had said and done — his life, death, 
hurial, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and 
of the things spoken by the apostles which embod- 
ied the duty of mankind towards God, towards his 
Son, towards themselves, towards each other, and 
towards the world at large. The one faith, there- 
fore, here spoken of, is equivalent to the gospel. 
Christians at that time had but one gospel. Did they 
need more? Could a better one have been framed 
and presented? Look at the facts of that one gos- 
pel! Jesus died for sinners — what more was need- 
ed? Was there a better Savior to die? His sacri- 
fice was of infinite worth, and nothing more was 
needed. He was buried; he went into the dark 
and gloomy grave and conquered its dominions by 
rising on the third day 5 — was not this enough ? Who 
could have desired more? He ascei^ded to heaven 
to teach us the way: — this is all that could have been 
desired. And the one faith teaches us that he v/ill 
come again to break open our graves, take us to 
himself, that we mny be for ever wi h him "holy, 
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.'' 
This is all the human soul and body can ask for 
themselves. This satisfies all our wants and cra- 
vings. It is, in short, "exceeding abundantly above 
all that we are able to ask or think " in behalf of our- 
selves. This ''one faith," therefore, being the only 
true faith, was the only desirable faith. Those pure 
days, however, were very dissimilar to our corrupt 
times when we have so great a variety of faiths, or, 
to say the best, so many modifications of faith, that 



16 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the "poor sinner can with difficulty know what he 
must do to be saved. 

The church in those days had "one baptism," and 
I may say oiie^ mode of baptism. The action of ev- 
ery one who became a member of this heavenly 
family was that of going " down into the water/' of 
being buried in it, and of coming up out of it. If 
you will consult Acts viii. 36^ — -39, you will see 
the manner in which primitive christian baotism was 
performed. " And as they (Philip and the Eunuch) 
went on their way they came unto a certain water: 
and the eunuch said, see, here is water; what doth 
hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou 
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And 
he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot 
to stand still" so that the action might be performed 
without leaving their seats, and Philip, taking a tank 
or pitcher which was carried in the chariot, went 
and brought some of the water and poured or sprin- 
kled the same upon the Eunuch vfho went on his 
way rejoicing* 

Reader, I confess to you that I have quoted the 
passage wrong; I had the modern practice of what 
is called baptism in my eye, and slid off into a home- 
made text to suit it. I will try again and quote the 
place correctly. "•* And he commanded the chariot 
to stand slill^ a7id thei/ went down into the water^ 
BOTH Philip aisdthe Eunuch, and he baptized him. 
And when they were come up oiU of the zDCiter^ the 
Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the Eu- 
nuch saw him no more: and he went on his way re- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. it 

joicing." Here, I say, we have the true and simple 
mode or action of baptism as it was administered be- 
fore the dark and gloomy reign of Antichrist, And 
even now, so plain and forcible is the above passage, 
that any one who has common sense and common 
honesty, when he reads it, must see and feel that 
baptism as it was in the beginning and should be 
now, requires the immersion of the whole body in 
the water — that any application of water short of 
this, is a counterfeit baptism or no baptism at all. 
But as this subject will be in full treated in another 
chapter, I will drop it here. 

Respecting the design of the ''one baptism," I 
will take upon me to say in this place, from the pas- 
sage before us, that it was for the washing away or 
remission of sins. This is manifest from the effect 
it had upon the Eunuch: is it not said of him that 
'•he went on his way rejoicing?" Why did he re- 
joice after baptism and not before? The answer is, 
because in baptism he had received the pardon of 
his sins together with the divine assurance that such 
was the fact. I do not say that the literal water of 
that brook washed away his sins, or that water can 
do this in any case: nor do I say that the literal act 
of eating will save a man from starvation. It is not 
the act of eating but what we cat that keeps us 
alive. In like manner it is not the act of faith sim- 
ply, but it is what we believe that stirs up the soul to 
good feelings and good works. So also, it is not ev- 
ery act, though done in faith, that induces the par- 
don of sins; but an act commanded by the Lord of 
the conscience, for a specified end, will effect that 
2 



18 THE NEW LIGHT. 

end, because of that command from that person, 
though the subject of the action may be required to 
apply to himself a class of means that have no in- 
herent powers to the end contemplated. If, for in- 
stance, the Eunuch had refused to be baptised, he 
could not hai^e obtained remission, not because re- 
mission was in the water, but because of his rejec- 
ting the divine authority w^hich had commanded 
that action for that purpose. He that refuses to be 
baptised, refuses to obey a command of Christ, and 
this refusal is of the core and essence of rebellion; 
because the principle that leads a man to dishonor 
and reject one divine command knowingly, will 
lead him to reject all. Our Lord has said, '* He that 
is unjust in little, is unjust also in much;" and 
James 6 declares, "Whosoever shall keep the whole 
law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all 
— For he that said. Do not commit adultery^ said 
also. Do not kill* Now, if thou commit no adultery, 
yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor ol 
the law." In application of this principle we may 
also say. Whosoever shall do all the gospel, and yet 
omit one precept, he is guilty of all: — For, he that 
said. Repent of your sins ^ said also. Be baptised for 
the remission of them* Now, if thou believest and 
repentest, and yet refuses! to be baptised, thou art 
still a rebel against God if thou knowingly omitest 
this part of his will. The same authority that has 
commanded faith and repentance, has commanded 
penitent believers to be baptised for the remission of 
their sins, c and who is there that can with impuni- 
ty separate what God himself has joined together? 
b James ii. 10, 11. c Acts ii. 38, 39. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 19 

The primitive church was honored and dignified 
by beheving in and worshipping "One God and 
Father op all, who was above all, and through 
all, and in" them " all." d This great and glorious 
Being whose existence and attributes we have al- 
ready demonstrated, had sent his Son, the ''one 
Lord'^ of Christians and the Judge of all men, to 
" save his people from their sins,'^ e by becoming, 
himself, a sin-offering. In this way the " one God 
and Father of all'^ manifested his love towards the 
world. Can the mind of man conceive of a more 
perfect manner of manifes'ting the good-will of God 
towards mankind? And can we compute the mag- 
nitude and fervor of that love and philanthropy 
which actuated the heart and life of the adorable 
Jesus the Son of the Father? When we have tax- 
ed our vocabulary for words by which to portray 
and illustrate this love; when we have sought for 
some line to fathom its depth, or some scale to grad- 
uate its ''length and breadth and height;" we are 
compelled to fall back upon the plain and simple 
words of the Record — "God so loved the world that 
he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlas- 
ling life!*'/ ''Behold, what manner of love the 
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be 
called the sons of Godl^'g- When these great facts 
^embraced in the most comprehensive phrase, Jesus 
and the Resurrection^ were promulgated to the world, 
" to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles," they 
were believed and rejoiced in with a relish, haste, 
and facility truly astonishing. When God was thus 

d Eph. it. 6. e Matt. i. 21. f John iii. 16. g John iii. 1. 



20 THE NEW LIGHT. 

manifest in the flesh, A justified by the Spirit, seen 
of angels, and preached among the Gentiles, he was 
believed on in the world. Innumerable crowds of 
men who had been foolish idolaters, abandoned the 
feasts of Backus, the revels of Venus, and the tem- 
ple of Dianna, and " through the washing of w^ater 
by the word " of the Lord, became members of the 
christian church, and, " by a new and living way," 
"having their hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science and their bodies washed with pure water," 
found access to the source of purity and salvation. 
Having thus "purified their souls in obeying the 
truth through the Spirit," they loved each other as 
God had loved them, and received each other as 
Christ had received them to the glory of God. i In 
all places throughout the Roman Empire, millions 
on millions thronged to the cross of Christ and "the 
Laver of Regeneration," and the Imperial City it- 
self, at last, was impregnated by the word of truth. 
A Christien church arose upon the Tiber where for 
many long ages, imaginary gods and fictitious deities 
had been worshipped by cruel rites and obscene in- 
stitutions. Even into the very " household of Cae- 
sar^' the leaven of the divine word had insinuated 
its power and revealed its effects. High persons 
and low met upon the same level of equality; and 
then it was that the world witnessed a spectacle 
which has been but seldom seen since, and which, 
I fear, in our own times is scarcely seen at all — a 
spectacle which, if we may suppose an angel of 
God on a mission of mercy to have seen, he would 
have paused a while to contemplate its grandeur — 
hlTira. iii. 16. iRom. xv. 7. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 21 

the spectacle of the poor man rejoicing in his exal- 
tation, and of THE RICH in that he was brought 
lowly They were crucified to the world by the 
power of truth, braved its insults and frowns, re- 
fused its honors, its fame, its emoluments, and believ- 
ing themselves to be heira with Christ of all desira- 
ble things, they took, as occasioned offered, and 
'•took joyfully the spoiling of their goods,'^ knowing 
that they had in heaven a better, an enduring sub- 
stance. 



CHAPTER IL 

Of the Church- of Christ — The church is one and not to be divi- 
ded — The unity of the Church argued from several Scriptures; — 
from the Prayer of Jesus for himself — for his Apositles — for all be- 
lievers — Unity of the Church her greatest power over the world 
— Argument fromEph. iv. 6 — Argument from Rom. xii. 1-5 — Ar- 
gument from Eph. iv. 9-14 — Argument from Rom. xvi. 17.— Ar- 
gument from 1 Cor. i. 10 — Inferences, Reflections, and Conclu- 
sion. 

The Church of Christ framed and constituted in 
the manner sketched in the preceding chapter, was 
honored most supremely by a name conferred upon 
her by her Head, Husband, and Lord — She is styled 
the " ONE Body," a of Christ — not, indeed that she 
is literally his Body or Person — She is only corpo- 
rately or politically so, being bound under his laws 
and having hi? good Spirit. As this is an impor- 
tant subject I will be somewhat particular in illus- 
tratihg it, 

j James i. 9« 10. m Eph. iv. 4, 



22 THE NEW LIGHT. 

As by a figure of speech the church is called the 
BODY OF Christ, we may infer that she is qualified 
to make progress through the world, or that she pos- 
sesses, or did possess in the beginning, all necessa- 
ry powers and functions for the purposes of self- 
edification and self-increase* Let us examine the 
chief of these powers. 

In a text already quoted Paul says '• there is one 
body," or church. You notice what emphasis he 
lays on this attribute one. He does not say there 
are two, or three, or one hundred bodies, but simply 
and emphatically ^'/Aere z'5 one body.'^ From this 
we are authorised to infer that the unity of the 
body or church of Christ, is essential to its aggressive 
power of overcoming the world, or of absorbing it into 
its own bosom. By the way, however, this is not 
merely an inference from well laid premises, but 
turns out to be the fully-expressed mind of Jesus 
himself. We suppose that the Founder of the 
Christian church understood the principles and pow- 
ers necessary to its success in the world, and that 
he had a greater care over its fortunes than others 
who were less wise and less benevolent. Well, 
how did he express his thoughts and feelings on the 
subject? or did he express them at all? You will 
please accompany me to the scene of that most sol- 
emn and spirit-moving prayer which he made to the 
Father just before his sufferings. Hear him, then, 
standing on the awful brink of eternity, with all 
the weighty affairs of man's salvation glowing in his 
affections! 

"Father! b I have glorified thee on the earth: I 

b John xrii, passim 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 23 

have finished the work which thou gavestme to do. 
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own 
self with the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was. I have manifested thy name unto the 
men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine 
they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have 
kept thy word. Now they have known that all 
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee: 
for I have given unto them the words which thou 
gavestme; and they have received them and have 
known surely that I came out from thee, and they 
have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for 
them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom 
thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all 
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glori- 
fied in them. And now I am no more in the world, 
but these are in the world, and I come to thee. 
Holy Father! keep through thine own name those 
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as 
we are. While I was with them in the world, I 
kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me 
I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of 
perdition, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. 
And now I come to thee, and these things I speak in 
the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in 
themselves. I have given them thy word, and the 
world hath hated them, because they are not of the 
world, even as I am not of the world, I pray not 
that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but 
that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They 
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 



24 THE NEW LIGHT. 

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I 
also sent them into the world. And for their sakes 
I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified 
through the truth." 

Now, if we may pause at this deep and solemn 
period, we would observe that thus far Jesus has had 
two objects before his mind, and for which he prays. 
First, he prays for himself, that he may be reinsta- 
ted in the glory which he had in the presence of 
God before the foundation of the world. Secondly? 
he prays very particularly for his Apostles, giving, as 
he proceeds, their history, with an account of what 
they had received from him. Finally, he pleads 
with the Father that the Apostles may be one — 
" one," to use his own language, '' as we are.^^ Now 
if we could suppose that the Apostles divided assun- 
der in their labors, and went to work each in his 
separate way to build communities which would be 
as separate as they themselves were, every one could 
see that such separate and antagonistic labors and 
communities would have defeated the design of 
Christ in this prayer. The Apostles were to be one 
as the Father and Son are one, that is, one in spirit, 
one in labor, one in design, one with respect to all 
the things to be done in order to accomplish the sal- 
vation of mankind. And by the way in passing per- 
mit me to remark, that the increase of the church in 
the first age was greatly owing to the unity of the 
Apostles among themselves. Had the case beea 
otherwise Christianity had been strangled in the 
birth. — But our Lord introduces another class of 
petitions for another class of subjects* 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



95 



"Father!" he continues, with the sanctity of 
heaven beaming in his countenance — " Neither pray 
I for these. (Apostles) alone, but for them also who 
shall believe on me through their word: that they 
all may be one; as thou. Father, art in me, and I 
in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the 
world may believe that thou hast sent me. And 
the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them; 
that they may be one even as we are one; I in therp, 
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in 
one; and that the world may know that thou hast 
sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.'' 

Now surely, if in the last section we have recorded 
of this prayer, Jesus prays for and mentions one 
thing more than another, that one thing is the unity 
of all believers: And if the object or design of that 
unity be again and again expressed with the great- 
est clearness and perspicuity, that object is, that the 
unbelieving world beholding this heavenly unity, 
might believe in the mission of the Son of God« 
Christ, therefore, if we may (and we must) have con- 
fidence in themeaning of words and sentences, in- 
tended to teach his followers that without a visible 
and real unity among themselves the world would 
not believe that the Father had seat him. It is his 
will that all who believe on him should be one, as he 
and the Father are one — one in spirit, one in design, 
one in labor for the good of mankind. The Father 
and the Son are one in nature, one in will, one in 
love to fallen man. Just so should all christians be; 
Jesus in them, the Father in Jesus, and all the 
saints one in the Father and Son.. This was the 



"" THE NEW LIGHT. 

case in the beginning of the gospel, and herein we 
find the cause, as I said before, of the world so rap- 
idly and generally believing in Jesus in those early 
times. 

The first power, therefore, of the Church, by 
which she was able to make way in the world, was 
her glorious unity. She|presented to the world the 
similitude of a city "compactly built together," or 
of a wall of ever-during marble cemented so close- 
ly by brotherly love as that lines of separation or 
interstices could not be seen. She resembled a tem- 
ple « built upon the foundation of the Apostles and 
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor- 
ner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed to- 
gether, groweth unto a holy temple in the J.ord."c 
She resembled the human body with an infallible 
head, "from whom the whole body fitly joined to- 
gether and compacted by that which every joint sup- 
pheth, according to the effectual working in the 
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body 
to the edifying of itself in love." d 

But to make the argument as strong as the 
strength of truth, I will, by the reader's permission, 
proceed to ascertain the mind of some of the ApoE- 
ties upon this same subject of unity. If they have 
but echoed the voice and sentiments of the Lord as 
to this subject, we may rest in perfect confidence in 
the rectitude of the foregoing views. 

We may say in general, that all those passages of 

the apostolical writings (of which there is a copious 

variety) in which we find exhorlations to love, to 

peace, unity, &c. are in effect so many evidence's to 

cEph.ii. 20-23 dEph. iv. 16. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 27 

the necessity of union among the followers of Christ. 
Of this kind of evidence take the following: — • 
'* Now, he that ascended, what is it but that he also 
descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 
He that descended is the same also that ascended 
up far above all heavens, that he might till all things. 
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; 
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teach- 
ers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of 
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ: that we henceforth be no more children 
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind 
of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning 
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. *'e 

The same apostle elsewhere, beautifully illustrates 
the natue and necessity of this unity. Will the rea- 
der permit me to introduce the whole passage. "I 
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service. And be not conformed to this world: but 
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and 

perfect will of God For as we have many 

members in one body, and all members have not 
the same ofiice; so we, being many, are one body in 
Christ, and every one members of one another." — 
Now I think it will be impossible to conceive of 
stronger modes of expression than those used by 

eEph. iv. 9—14. f Rom. xii. 1—5. 



28 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Paul in the above passages to point out the nature 
and necessity of christian union. " Unity of the 
faith,'^ in the first instance, is equivalent to being 
members one of another, in the second. Those 
who believe the the same things are one in faith; 
and those who do the precepts of the gospel, are 
one in practice: and if it be true that to those who 
submit to him the Lord gives his holy and good 
Spirit, it will follow that all such are members not 
only " of his body, flesh, and bones,'^ but " of one 
another.'^ The unity of the Church, then, was de- 
signed to be perfect and unceasing: such was the 
will of Christ, and so taught and practised his apos- 
tles. He is a heretic who teaches otherwise! 

But, as if to make the temple of the one church 
doubly strong, by girders, braces, and ties; the same 
apostle in another place ^ would secure his breth- 
ren against the encroachments of division-makers, 
or, as their scriptural name is, heretics. He says; 
^' Now I beseech you brethren, mark them who cause 
divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which 
ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that 
are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their 
own belly; and by good words and fair speeches de- 
ceive the hearts of the simple." No matter what, 
therefore, may be the pretext for dividing the chris- 
tian church into sects and parties; no matter how 
much the speaker who would do it may pretend to 
the glory of God; no matter how many honied, 
smoothe, and " good words and fair speeches," he 
may employ — the apostle hath written his sentence 
and brought to light the master-principle of his ac- 

gRom. xvi. 17. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. W 

tions: the man serves his "belly," his hungry ap- 
petites! He would fracture the very body of Christ 
for bread; he would tear away the seamless coat of 
the Nazarene and send him naked through the 
world! Reader, beware of these " good words and 
fair speeches," for they abound in this corrupt age 
and nation ! What thronging thousands of the "sim- 
ple" at this day are led away and kept away from 
the true church by the " bellies^'"^ the appetites of 
the clergy! Hundreds of distinct and belligerant 
societies must be maintained in order that a pittance 
of bread may arise to the shepherds! But we will 
treat of these matters in another place. 

Again — Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthi- 
ans reproves them for the divisions which he saw 
were beginning to appear, h See with what holy 
fervor of anxiety he approaches them in the opening 
of his letter! " Now I beseech you brethren, by 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak 
the same thing, and that there be no divisions 
AMONG you; but that ye be perfectly joined togeth- 
er in the same mind and in the same judgment." 
To take away or prevent all doubt as to the mean- 
ing of the term " divisiojis^'^^ the apostle explains 
himself: for some of the members of the house of 
Chloehad told him the nature of the contentions at 
Corinth, that some were for Paul as their preacher; 
others were against Paul and for Apollos; while 
there were others against both and for Cephas. 
This is what Paul means by divisions^ and which he 
prayed them to put away. "Is Christ divided?^' 
hi Cor. i. 10. 



30 THE NEW lilQHT. 

said he; "was Paul crucified foryou? or were ye bap- 
tised into the name of Paul?" 

It is worthy of notice here that these divisions at 
Corinth had not been completed, they were only in- 
cepted or begun, when Paul wrote this letter. My 
inference is this — That if an apostle reproved the 
Corinthians so sharply while they still lived together, 
or before they set up distinct communities of Paul- 
ites, Apollosites, Cephasites &c., and told them that 
they were "carnal and walked as men 5" how much 
more unsparing would have been his rebuke had 
they already been separated into distinct sects refu- 
sing to commune with each other after the fashion 
of our times? 

By way of concluding this chapter 1 feel called 
upon to enter my protest against a \erj false and 
pernicious principle, which has become as popular 
as it is false. It is maintained by the Denomina- 
tions of the day that with respect to the great mat- 
ters of the christian faith and the things to be done 
in order to salvation, men cannot be of the same 
mind and the same judgment, that they cannot all 
speak the same thing. They plead that there ought 
to be sects und various denominations, and go so far 
even as to assert that thev are an advantagje to the 
cause of religion : It is poorly worth while to argue 
with such men. They are unbelievers: for if they 
had any regard for the teaching of the apostles as 
above exemplified; if they had any reverence for 
Jesus, or believed that he was in earnest in that sol- 
emn prayer to which our attention was recently di- 
rected; they could neither make such expressions, 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 3l 

nor give their influence to the building up of sep- 
arate and hostile communities. 

But, the days are evil. Most of those divisions 
began not in our times. They have descended from 
former generations, and the present race of men 
have inherited them from their fathers. Thus, while 
the true light is mostly hidden by the fogs and 
smoke of the bottomless pit, it is difficult for those 
who never knew the truth to come to it. Strong 
delusions have come, and men believe lies! My 
prayer to Almighty God is, that the time may soon 
come when the Truth will shine in all parts of the 
world; when the traditions of men, the Phariseeism 
of Romanists and Protestants may be annihilated 
by the clear blaze of truth; and when Christ shall 
be restored to his honors, and the gospel become as 
at the beginning, ''the power of God unto salvation 



CH\PTER III. 

Of the Church in general — Adam and Eve — Unity of the church 
as a Body — Of the Spirit of the one body — Fruits of the Spirit — 
Works of the flesh defined — The Church possessed of facilities of 
Advancement — No ritual in the Church — The Laws are general 
— Office of wisdom and discretion — Things to be believed, de- 
fined — Things to be done defined — Hint at the Apostacy. 

It RE3IAINS now that I trace out the powers and 
facilities of the Christian Church as she is presented 
to us in the the apostolic Scriptures under the figure 
i Rom, i. 16. 



32 THE NEW LIGHT. 

of the HUMAN BODY. We shall see, I trust, that 
this divine communitj was armed at the beginning 
with every facility and means of absorbing the 
world into its own bosom, by purifying, saving, adop- 
ting, and sanctifying all such as believed and obey- 
ed. We shall see, moreover, that this saved family 
or body was possessed, and is now possessed, of in- 
ternal means of government and stability, and that 
she does not need to go to the monarchies and re- 
publics of the earth for archetypes or patterns of 
her government. We shall see, finally, that the 
church of Christ may not depend on any supposed 
tradition of the apostles to explain and vindicate 
her Creed, or upon any self established council to 
frame and digest her articles of religion. The Son 
has made her free, and she is free indeed — for it is 
perfect liberty when we obey a perfect law. 

If Adam was a " figure of Him that was to come," 
as Paul so beautifully attesls.y he was doubtless so 
not only as respects his personal appearance or 
body, but as respected the chief incidents of his his- 
tory and the affections of his mind. Now it hap- 
pened to Adam that he was alone in creation, that 
is, he had no mate or companion at first. To sup- 
ply this deficiency, "the Lord God," it is said, 
'^brought on Adam a deep sleep" for the purpose of 
taking out of his person a member that could be 
spared, and of converting it into a wife for him. 
This was done, and she was called Eve and Woman^ 
because she was the constituted "mother of all liv- 
ing," being extracted or taken out of man. Adam 
being thus a figure of Christ, Eve became a figure of 

j Rom, V. 14, 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 33 

the church. This may perhaps be the origin of the 
church being so frequently called the body of 
Christ: for Eve was certainly the image, represen- 
tative, and modified body of Adam, "bone of his 
bone and flesh of his flesh." The church is the body 
of Christ — a community or family of believers, gov- 
erned by his laws, possessing his Spirit, and answer- 
able at his tribunal. Under this view we consid- 
er her. 

1 . As the Body of Christ the Church is one, as 
we proved at large in the foregoing chapter. God 
made but one Eve for Adam. Had he made two or 
three, the family would have turned out worse than 
it did, especially in its domestic relations. God 
could not act so unwisely and so unbenevolently. 
So also there is but one Bride or Body of Christ, 
however much the spirit of sectarianism and divis- 
ion accuses him of bigamy and polygamy. If they 
say that all the Sects, Romanist and Protestant, go 
to make up the church, I do not perceive that this 
mends the matter much; for it seems absurd to sup- 
pose that the Spouse of Christ would be ever wrang- 
ling with herself! However, be thaC matter as it 
may, Christ has but one Body on the^ earth, and 
will never own or acknowledge but one Bride. I 
would say to each Sect, beware lest you be rejec- 
ted! I would say to each individual of each Sect, 
"let there be no divisions among you" — " be of the 
same mind and of the same judgment" — "all of 
you speak the same things." "God is not the God 
of confusion, but of peace." Is your mighty strife 
of words and for the ascendency, peace? or is it 



34 THE NEW LIGHT. 

confusion? Does the world regard it as love and -' 
unity, or as hatred and division? Answer me these 
things before you seek to justify your present par- 
ties and party names. 

2. As the Body of Christ, the church has the 
mind or Spirit of Christ. When Eve was created 
she not only resembled Adam in the general out- 
line of personality, but in the intelligence of head 
and aflfections of heart. Naturally her mind touch- 
ing all the affairs of their kingdom (for they were 
sovereigns) was his mind, and his was hers. They 
were one. And so it was in the beginning of the 
gospel: the saints possessed the "mind that was in 
Christ Jesus." The greatest proof to the world 
that this was the case, was, that they did what he 
commanded them — that is — all did it who possessed 
his Spirit. It is beyond all question that the human 
spirit, wherever it be, resides in the human body. 
"The body without the spirit is dead." So says an 
apostle, and so testify a thousand facts which daily 
occur. If, then, upon the earth we are able to find 
and identify the living Body or church of Jesus 
Christ, that Body will possess his Spirit, his mind. 
That mind in each individual member will manifest 
its presence by the fmits of the Spirit, such as 'Move, 
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, fidel- 
ity, meekness, temperance: against such there is no 
law." b When all these graces or fruits of the spir- 
it meet and shine in one person; when he loves 
God and men; when he rejoices in the promises and 
providence of his Heavenly Father; when he is at 
peace with God and with all men; when, under af- 
GaL Y. 22., 2.3. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, S5 

flictions and reproaches he suffers long and is pa- 
tient and kind; when he is gentle towards all men, 
courteous, urbane and condescending; when he is 
good to the poor, resembling the philanthropy of 
God himself; v/hen he is meek under all his trials, 
following the lovely Redeemer; when he is faithful 
and punctual in all the relations and business of life; 
and, to say no more, when he is temperate in his ap- 
petites, in his dress, in amusements, in all things — 
what a living representative Christ has on earth by 
his spirit in this man! Such a person is a branch 
indeed of the Living Vine, laden with clusters of 
better than golden fruit. And if we could suppose 
a whole community of such individuals, the effect 
would be as the multiplication of light by as many 
brilliant stars; or as the gathering together in har- 
vest of the most precious fruits for the support of a 
famishing world. "The fruit of the Spirit is in all 
goodness, and righteousness, and truth. '^c Hence, 
every living member of Christ's Body is said to 
"gather fruit unto eternal life,'^d or, to have his 
"fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."e 
In contrast w^ith the above, the sacred teachers 
have presented the fruits or works of the flesh, 
which are these — "Adultery, fornication, u'nclean- 
ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, va- 
riance, emulations, wealth, strife, seditions, heresies, 
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such 
like."/" I suppose there is scarcely any one inA- 
vidualof the human family in whom all these v^^s, 
at the same time, concentrate; but this whole circle 
of enormities is constantly traversed at ^^^ s^ime 
c Epb. V. 9. d John iv. 36. e Rom. vi, 22. f 0*1- v. 19--21, 



36 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



time by different persons. Some sins in the above 
list, by their nature, indicate professors of religion, 
as idolatry^ which is the adoration of a creature in 
place of <he Creator; and witchcraft^ which is a 
pharmaceutic enchantment, that is, an incantation 
by pharmacy or the power of drugs, or, as under- 
stood by others, a mischievous religious delusion; 
and heresies^ which signify sects or parties at vari- 
ance, when union should have been preserved. And 
let me say, that if ever there was upon earth a com- 
munity in which union and peace should be main- 
tained, that community is the church. Heresies or 
Sects in such a body are infinitely hateful and hein- 
ous, for they put asuhder what God has joined to- 
gether, break as it were the bones of the Lord Je- 
sus, and rob him of his seamless mantle. And 
hence, '' a man who is a heretic," has a special law 
made and provided for his case — " a first and second 
admonition" is all he deserves, when he is to be put 
away from among the faithful as a gangrened mem- 
ber is amputated for the sake of the body.^ 

3. The Church, as the Body of Christ, possesses 
not only the attributes of unity, of the mind of her 
Head, and of spiritual life and enjoyment; but the 
power also, as a consequence, of acting and mana- 
ging her internal affairs and her external relations, 
according to the words of wisdom and goodness 
which he hath left with her. By reason of her 
^mon with Adam, Eve did not lose her own distinct 
ex^ence and personality. She employed her pow- 
ers olJocomotion according to the impulses of her 
ownmu^: at the same time, however, it was her 
gTit.K^lO. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 37 

will, or rather, it was made the duty of her will, to 
conform to the will of Adam. She had power to 
go and come when she pleased — nor was there any 
thing to abridge her liberties if she acted according 
to the general prudence which her own mind could 
supply from the stock of knowledge already on 
hand. In a word, there was a certain sphere in 
which she moved, which was emphaticaly her own, 
but in this sphere it was made her duty to hare re- 
gard to the lavY of her husband in order that she 
might not overstep or transcend that sphere. 

And so, in the general, it is with the Church. 
Her Lawgiver presumes that she possesses not only 
a portion of natural wisdom, but a knowledge also of 
his will, and that his authority will be respected in 
all her transactions with mankind. And hence, 
though she is styled his Body, she is so only upon the 
proviso that she has obeyed and continues to obey 
his law; so that the fact of her being his Body may 
reflect honor upon his name — for his name is given 
to his Body. You never saw a man whose head had 
one name and his body another, or whose head was 
so detached from his body as that there was no visi- 
ble line of intercourse between them. 

These remarks are made to show that the Chris- 
tian Church has not in her possession anything like 
a ritual which must determine the time, place, and 
manner of every action of every member. For in- 
stance; there are thousands of things which Chris- 
tians must do, for the manner of doing which there 
is no description in the Bible which is the general 
law of the realm. We must " pray without ceas- 



38 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ing;" but It is left wholly to our own sense of need 
and propriety as to what we «hall pray for, and as 
to how we shall pray, whether kneeling, standing, 
lying prostrate, or as we attend to the affairs of life 
as they daily occur- We must "in all things give 
thanks;" but the Scriptures furnish us no ritual or 
form for this duty; they leave us to employ either 
our own words or those of the Psalms of David, or 
other divine sentences which express grateful hearts. 

In short, the Bible ialks to us as if we had some 
common sense of our own, and that we had em- 
ployed it in becoming acquainted with the mind of 
our Master. Having therefore a general knowledge 
already, and it being presumed that Christians de- 
sire to do all things that are right, we are made the 
judges of whether actions in our view are right or 
not, and if, from the said previous knowledge of the 
Book, we judge them to be right, the apostolic ex- 
hortations proceed on this wise — "Whatsoever things 
are true; whatsoever things are honest; whatsoever 
things are just; whatsoever things are pure; what- 
soever things are lovely ; whatsoever things are of 
good report; — if there be any virtue, if there be 
any praise, — think of these things." h 

A general discretion, therefore, must guide us in 
many things — a discretion which arises out of our 
state as Christians. When we are commanded to 
sing " psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs," it is up- 
on the event of our being "merry;" but the song is 
not given in the Bible, much less the turn of com- 
mon, long, short or particular metre. Evangelists 
are to "preach the word," but whether every day 
h Phil. iv. 8. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 33 

in the week, or only on Lordsday, is a matter to be 
decided by circumstances. And when they do 
preach, there is no length of time prescribed for a 
sermon aside from the expediencies in the premi- 
ses. All such things must be done according to the 
best judgment that may be had, and out of regard 
to the spirit and genius of Christianity. 

Thus far we may in safety go respecting the un- 
prescribed forms of duties; but there is a point 
where expediency ends and divine prescriptions be- 
gin. The ascertainment of this point has been a 
matter of great perplexity to the religious world. 
Some, it seems, have given themselves such a lati- 
tude as to throw almost every thing into the chapter 
of expediences; while others would make, or ap- 
pear to make, the Christian Religion to consist in a 
certain number of forms and actions. Neither par- 
ty is right. I grasp the subject and present it in the 
following way. In Christianity there are two clas- 
ses of subjects, the things to be believed, and the 
things to be done. 

Things to he believed. — In this chapter there are 
no expediencies — there is no room for any; nor are 
there any in the mode of faith. Faith refers to, for 
it springs out of, facts, or something done by another, 
and reported by witnesses. Now, every fact prox- 
imately or remotely relating to Jesus the Son of 
God, and reported by Prophets, or by the Father, or 
by Apostles, or by Jesus himself, as witnesses, must 
be believed by the heir of salvation. In a word, 
the Bible must be accredited. But there is but one 
mode of doing this: if the mind be persuaded of 



40 THE NEW LIGHT. 

those facts, the lips will talk of them, and the life 
will receive the regenerating influence. The per- 
son cannot select a certain number of facts as true, 
and reject the rest; for that rejection would prove 
him an infidel with regard to the whole. There is 
but one way to believe anj thing, namely, the per- 
suasion of the mind that it is true; and all the facts 
concerning Jesus must be believed, or none of 
them. 

Things to be done. — These follow faith as effects 
do causes, and divide themselves into two classes, 
things done to become christians, and those done as 
christians. But the mode of doing these thing, is 
left to be determined by circumstances and expedi- 
encies. For instance; men must repent; the thing 
must BE done; they must restore goods taken fradu- 
lently ; they must repair if possible any injuries done 
to their neighbors — but the most felicitous mode of 
doing all this, is referred to the judgment of the per- 
son himself. If faith be in his heart so strong as to 
make him sorry for sin, the visible part of repen- 
tance will not long be hid. Again; believers who 
have not been, are commanded to be " baptised for 
the remission of sins;'^ but the mode of baptism is 
nowhere discribed in the Bible, and must be deter- 
mined by the person receiving, or by him who ad- 
ministers it. Nor is a particular mode necessary to 
the existence of the thing: the thing itself must be 
done^ which is proof that there is some way of doing 
it, perhaps more ways than one. "Very well, say 
Catholics and a hundred Protestants, that sounds 
well. Let us then sprinkle and pour as modes of 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 41 

baptism." Not so fast, friends; sprinkling does not 
do THE THING, which in the law must be done. The 
thing commanded is baptism, bat this effect is not 
produced by sprinkling. We must have the effect, 
or the thing itself does not exist. If you would 
sprinkle or pour till you cover or bury the person, 
then 1 would confess tliat sprinkling is a mode of 
baptism. But you never do this; therefore your 
sprinkling is no baptism at all, and no mode of bap- 
tism. 

With respect to baptism, I can conceive of but 
two or three modes or ways in which the effect may 
be produced in conformity to the " decency and or- 
der" contemplated in all religious rites. Let the 
person be taken down into the water; let him kneel 
as in prayer; and then let the evangelist press him 
gently forwards till his is buried. Or, let the admin- 
istrator and candidate as before, descend into the 
water; then let the penitent, standing, be inclined 
backwards, in the usual way, till the water flows 
over him^ In either of these cases^ the effect, bap- 
tism^ is produced, and this is all the law requires. — 
Here, then, are two modes of baptism — and there 
may be others, either or any of which will produce 
the effect required. I will not take upon me to 
say what mode is most worthy of being observed. — 
It is the thing itself which we say must be done: 
the manner of doing it is left to the persons interest- 
ed, and the general law of propriety and order. 

Similar remarks may be made as to the mode of 
doing all good works. We must take care of the 
poor; this is the thing to be done; but the easiest> 



43 THE NEW LIGHT. 

and most systamatic, or best way of fulfilling this 
conimand, is left to our own wisdom and judgement. 
The thing must be done\ and if the love of God is 
in our hearts we will devise many ways, and open 
many channels in which our benevolence may reach 
them. But I need not amplify upon a subject that is 
so plain and so easily understood. Bear in mind the 
things to be believed, and the things to be done, and 
the mind will remain unconfused in the midst of the 
subject. 

Upon the whole, from what has been said I trust 
it fully apears to the reader, that, as the Body of 
Christ the Church as at first organised was armed 
with every facility of advancing in the world — of 
saving and blessing the human family — of maintain- 
ing her own peace, and of perpetuating her own 
government. But there is no kingdom on earth but 
what may be disturbed by internal dissensions — 
there is no proof against rebellion when there is a 
general corruption of manners. The church apos- 
tatized. Eve herself forsook Adam by an abuse of 
power: the Church gave way to Anti-Christ,- truth 
to error, justice to fraud, the Man of Calvary to the 
Man of Sin. Hell opened her mouth upon earth, 
and volumes of rolling smoke from the bottomless 
pit '^covered the land, and gross darkness the peo- 
ple!^' 



CHAPTER IV. 

Beautiful appearance of the Primitive Church — Miraculous Pow- 
ers considered — Miracles among the Patriarchs — Miracles of 
Moses — Of the Prophets — Miracles and Mission of Jesus not 
subversive of the Law, but the End contemplated by it — Jesus 
wrought no miracle before his Baptism — Why He was Baptised 
— Testimony of the Baptist — Spirit without or above Measure 
given to Jesus — His Love how inferred from this Fact — Con- 
clusion. 

The Church coursoriiy pourtrayed in the last 
chapter as the Body of Christ, presented herself be- 
fore the world, rather as the angel of his presence 
than as a company of mortal beings: for the love 
vyhich the members generally bore to each other, far 
transcended that external profession of religion, that 
in-word-and-in-tongiie religion which gives charac- 
ter to the present times. They mutually wept or 
rejoiced, as the glory of God prevailed, or as the 
enemy gained the ascendant. 

Now, I would not press a figure too closely, or 
run it beyond its legitimate bounds; but it appears 
to me that when the church is considered as the 
Body of Christ, the apostle would represent her as 
furnished with every power and perfection, organ or 
instrument, necessary to the conversion of the world 
and the maintainance of order and peace within 
her own realm. In other words, that the church as 
the Lord's Body, has eyes, ears, hands, feet, &c. &c. 
by which she may see lier way, hear her orders, ad- 
vance from place to place, and perform all acts and 



44 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



deeds requisite to the purposes above specified, Paul 
has beautifully and at large exemplified the whole 
subject in one of his Epistles, a From him we have 
taken the hint, and will discourse of the church both 
as to her extraordinary and ordinary powers. 

Her extraordinary pov7ers. — It is a most sin- 
gular and wonderful fact, a fact, too, designed to 
meet and satisfy a prominent principle in human na- 
ture, that in the beginning of every dispensation of 
religion the Almighty has uniformly aflforded ■ the 
evidence of miracles, as necessary to the credit of 
his institutions. Thus, when Abraham the father 
of the faithful was elected to be the head of a " pe- 
culiar people," Jehovah miraculously spoke to him, 
and made him a party to the Covenant of Promise. 
To Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him to the same prom- 
ise, supernatural visitations were vouchsafed; and 
the subsequent Prophets confirmed their testimonies 
at once by a holy life and miraculous powers. — Thus 
Moses the waterman^ the mighty son of Amram, in 
the land of Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wil- 
derness for forty years, proved his mission from God 
by a series of strange and unprecedented miracles. 
And the record of these powers, while there is hu- 
man language on earth, will pervade every civilized 
nation, and speak for him more than all philosophy 
and all reason could do, that God sent him to be the 
deliverer and lawgiver of his people. 

As a Missionary 02 Apostle sent from God, Jesus 
too, in conformity with the nature of man, behooved 
to establish his claims to Messiahship by the same 
means, miracles and wonders and superhuman pow- 

a 1 Cor. xii. passim. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 46 

crs. But the position of Jesus was a singular one 
and in one respect unlike that of Moses and the 
Prophets. He professed that he came to be a Law- 
giver, not to destroy or dishonor, but to fulfil the law 
of Moses and the predictions of the Prophets — 
that he came to be the end of the Jewish Code, and 
the framer of a new Institution which he styled '' the 
Regeneration," b or which, in the language of Paul, 
was to be "the time of Reformation." c Now, it is 
evident that when Jesus made his appearance and 
set up his claims, the law of Moses was of divine 
obligation on the House of Israel, and it is equally 
evident that he knew this and confessed it: for, when 
by his word he had healed and cleansed a leper, he 
said to him, " Go thy way, show thyself to the 
priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for 
a testimony unto them," gJ The question therefore 
will rise. How are we to understand these things? 
Are we to suppose that one divine institution will 
stand in the way of another? that Moses and Christ 
came in collision? Not at all. The whole may be 
explained by the following remark. 

In the above passage concerning the leper, and in 
several other places, Christ evidently for the time 
beiLg gives place to Moses. When brought before 
Pilate, he confesses that he was born to be a king, 
but th^t his kingdom " is not of this world.'' e And 
his apo^les afterwards, have very particularly ex- 
plained this position: Paul especially tells us that 
Jesus would not be a priest on the earth because 
there were priests of divine appointment on the 
earth already-;— that having "somewhat to offer" to 
b Matt. xix. 28. cHeb. ix. 10. d Matt. viii. 4. e John xviii. 36. 



46 THE NEW LIGHT. 

God, he would make the oblation ^* in heaven it- 
self/'/ He would not reign, therefore, temporally, 
on the earth, either as priest or king, in opposition 
to Moses, Aaron, or C^sar. As he was not made 
a priest " by the law of a carnal commandment^' or 
any thing in the code of Moses; as he traced not 
his pedigree to the sacerdotal tribe of Levi but to 
the regal tribe of Judah, and found not his order ac- 
cording to that of Aaron but of Melchisedek; and 
as he was made Priest by the oath of God after the 
resurrection of his body from the grave, he could 
not stand in the way of any earthl}^ priest or poten- 
tate, only in so far as they might travel beyond their 
sphere and encroach upon his prerogatives.^ The 
priests under the law of Moses were all mortal — 
they '^ could not continue by reason of death," says 
Paul; but Jesus "ever liveth," he is immortal as 
Priest, and reigns in reference to the eternal desti- 
ny of man. 

Besides — God purposed from the beginning that 
the law of Moses should come to its end at the im- 
martalization of his Son; and had it been under- 
stood by the Jews, they would have observed it no 
longer. God gave it to them as a Pedagogue or 
"schoolmaster unto Christ," A Judaism was thus 
as it were a preparatory department for childi^n or 
minors — it contained by figures and diagrf?ms the 
rudiments of a spiritual institution of learn/ng and 
holiness, at the head of which Christ was President 
and Lord. And it is remarkable with what ease 
those who in primitive times uuderstoot? and appre- 
ciated the law of Moses, passed into the christian 
f Heb. viii. g Heb. v. yI. vii. viii. ii. h Gal. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 45' 

church, and found the substance the shadow or form 
of which only they had possessed under the law. i 
They found "the righteousness of the law fulfilled 
in themselves, J and realized that '• he is not a Jew 
who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision 
which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who 
is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose 
praise is not of men, but of God." A: 

Having now shown that all that part of the law 
of Moses which consisted in types and shadows, and 
which for that reason was not moral but capable of 
being superseded; having proved that no one part 
of that law was against the promises of God made 
to Abraham many years before the law was given, / 
but that both the law and gospel were different 
parts of one great system of truth which, in its 
progress among mankind, was possessed of the at- 
tribute of infinite development; I pass to the re- 
maining items which I had before me at the com- 
mencement of this chapter. 

Our Lord, the Messiah, so far as I am advised, 
performed no miracle before he was baptised by 
John. Before that event he was in comparative ob- 
scurity, even among his own people; and John bap- 
tized him to introduce him to the house of Israel. 
You will take the following as proof: 1, John was 
sent from God. 2, He came to bear witness to the 
True Light. 3, John did bear witness of him, say- 
ing, "This was he of whom I spoke. He that cometh 
after me, is preferred before me, for he was before 
iRom. ii.20, j Rom. viii. I. k Rom. ii. 28, 29. IGal.iii. 



48 THE NEW LIGHT. 

meJ'm 4, He declared the nature of his mission, 
for he said in answer to them who questioned him as 
to who or what he was — ^' I am the voice of one 
crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of 
Lord/^ And when John saw Jesus coming to him 
(for he had come " from Galilee to Jordan to be 
baptised '^n) he said, "Behold the Lamb of God 
who taketh away the sin of the world! This is he 
of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is pre- 
ferred before me, for he was before me. And J 
knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to 
Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 
And John bore record saying, I saw the Spirit de- 
scending from heaven like a dove, and it abode up- 
on him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me 
to baptize with w^ater, the same said unto me, Upon 
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and re- 
maining on him, the same is he who baptizeth with 
the Holy Ghost. And 1 saw and bear record that 
this is the Son of God." o 

It is worthy of notice, that in all the above ac- 
count, the baptist does not say whether the Spirit 
descended on Jesus before or after baptism; but in 
Matthew the fact is stated explicitly that it was af- 
ter baptism. Whatever John's opinion may have 
been of Jesus before he saw the Spirit descend, he 
seems to say very plainly that he did not know him 
as the Son of God till that event had happened. It 
must follow, that when John said of him, " Behold 
the Lamb of God"&c., it was after the baptism. 
It w^as necessary, then, for Jesus to be baptised in 
order to his receiving the Spirit, and so his baptism 
m John i. 6—15—23. n Matt. iii. 13. o John i. 29—34. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 49 

in water was essential to his manifestation to Israel. 
But I will not say that the baptism by John of all 
others previous to that time had nothing to do in 
manifesting the Messiah: he came to prepare a peo- 
ple and make them ready for the approaching king- 
dom; and this very pre])aration was manifestive of 
his near presence. 

Jesus now having received the Spirit along with 
the testimony of the Father from the opening heav- 
ens, we have to inquire, in the next place, what is 
meant by this reception of the Spirit? what power 
or authority was conveyed under the symbol of a 
celestial Dove? Happily, John the Baptist has giv- 
en us a full explanation. Speaking to the Jews he 
says of Christ^'" He must increase, but I must de- 
crease. He that cometh from above is above all 

he that cometh from heaven is above all. 

And^what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; 
and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath 
received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God 
is true. For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the 
words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by 
MEASURE UNTO iiiM." To which is added, "The 
Father loveth the Son, AND iiatii given all things 
INTO HIS HAND."jo Jcsus, then, reccivcd the Spirit 
without measure, that is, if we may so speak, the 
whole of it, or all the things and powers of it. 

Being thus sanctified and set apart as the divine 
depositary of God's power on the earth, to be wiel- 
ded by him at his will, the Messiah commenced his 
ministry after his baptism, and with his ministry the 
performance of those miracles of which we read so 

4 p John iii, 30—35. 



50 THE NEW LIGHT. 

copiously in the evangelical history. And now, 
whatever fact in his life tends to show his power, or 
prove his love to us, is worthy of our most serious 
attention. And a fact is here presented from which' 
the greatness of his love i^ inferrable, and by which 
it is demonstrated; that fact is this, that the measur- 
les§ Spirit of God was never taken from him. Men 
sometimes engage in enterprises which they know 
to be dangerous, and from which, at the hour of 
greatest trial, they would recede, were recession in 
their power. Not so with Jesu?. He knew at the 
moment of his deepest humiliation, at the time of 
his inexpressible agony, that all the shining legions 
and cohorts of angels were at his command; he 
knew that he could summon " more than twelve le- 
gions" of them to rescue him from peril; g' nay, 
more; he knew that he could, without any creature- 
aid, scatter all his foes in an instant by the mec^ vo- 
lition of his will. Yet he chose voluntarily to let 
the worst come upon him, that he might by so great 
love save us from our ruin and misery! He "was 
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for 
our justification." r His earthly history terminated 
by his leaving the world and ascending to heaven. 

But a question arises immediately; Did he take 
with him his spiritual powers and leave the earth al- 
together vacant of the Divine Presence? For a 
few days after his ascention, we must confess, there 
was not a miraculous power on the earth. Miracles 
had long sii^ce ceased among the Jews; and though 
the Apostles, under their first mission, had power 
over diseases, evil spirits, &c. &c.;' yet they seem 

q Matt. xxvi. 53. r Rom. iv, 25. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 51 

entirely shorn of this power from a time before the 
crucifixion till some days after the ascension. This 
is a singular fact in the history of those time^, and 
is not without its use; — but-*an investigation of its 
moral lies not in the course of our present enquiry. 
We repeat, then, that for a few days after the as- 
sumption of Christ, there was not a miraculous spir- 
itual power on earth: but we rejoice to believe that 
the comforts of the divine Spirit were richly pos- 
sessed by the apostles and others. 5 It is certain 
that the disciples received the peace, joy, and com- 
fort of the Spirit before Pentecost, 5 though not his 
miraculous energies* 



CHAPTER V. 

Investigation of Miraculous Pcnvers. continued — Baptism of the 
Holy Spirit defined — The Day of Pentecost defined — Confusion 

■ of Tongues at Babel and gift of Tongues at Jerusalem, com- 
pared — Of the Design of Miracles, and why necessary — The 
Human Mind demands miracles in proof of Religion — Miracles 
the Origin of Mens' conceptions of a true Religion — Illustra- 
tions and Conclusion. 

At the conclusion of our last reading we con- 
templated the Messiah, with all the divine fulness — 
with "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," 
power and goodness — as seated at the Right hfind 
of Power, the throne of the Father. We contem- 
plated his apostles left on earth with a Commission 
in th^eir mouths, but lacking the power to execute it. 
But neither they nor we are held in long suspense; 
s John xxe s Act8%i. 



52 THE NEVv' LIGHT. 

for their Master before he departed, though he had 
commissioned them to go into all the world and 
preach the gospel to every creature, charged them 
expressly not to leave Jerusalem a till further orders 
from him. ^' Behold/' said he, " I send the prom- 
ise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city 
of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from 
on high,^' 6 '-For John truly baptized in water; 
but you shall be baptised in the Holy Ghost not 
many days hence." c The enduing them with pow- 
er from on high, that by that power they might be 
able lo fulfil their mission to ail nations, and their 
baptism in or with the Holy Ghost, are, therefore, 
as explained by Jesus, one and the same thing; — 
a truth which, if Christendom could receive it, would 
be as muscles to the eye-lids lifting them up that 
the pure day-light of the gospel might shine in. 
Why should the "power from on high" be regard- 
ed as miraculous, and the " baptism of the Spirit" 
something else? 

The ''not many days hence" so full of promise 
and big with expectation, must now be regarded as 
fulfilled, and some ten davs from the Ascension of 
Missiah the feast of Pentecost came on. When it 
was ^* fully come,'' new and strange things and un- 
precedented powers seized the Apostles who were 
all together in one place and surrounded by many 
thousands of Jews from every tribe of Israel and 
from "every nation under heaven," with Proselytes 
from those nations. The Apostles w^ere indicated 
to the multitude, not so much by their personal ap- 
pearance, the magnificence of their dress — nay, not 
a Acts i. 4. b Luke xxiv. 49. c Acts i. 5. 



ox THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 53 

at all by these things — as by a mysterious fire-like 
glare which was passing and glowing and yet con- 
tinuing over and upon their persons, in the shape of 
human tongues or organs of speech divided distinct- 
ly so that each tongue or organ appeared individu- 
ally. The coming of this unearthly visitation was 
introduced by " the sound of a rushing violent wind " 
or tornado. When the attention of the concourse 
was fully fixed on the men clad all over by those 
firey organs, (for the news of the strange aflfair had 
pervaded the city and called vast multitudes to be- 
hold it ^) the whole multitude "were confounded" 
and completely overwhelmed in amazement; "be- 
cause that every man heard them speak in his own 
language. And they were all amazed, and marvell- 
ed, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these 
who speak Galileans?" The wonder was that unlet- 
tered men, most of whom had formerly filled no high- 
er an occupation than that of fisherman, should now 
appear such excellent linguists as to speak with per- 
spicuity and force any number of languages. This 
was indeed wonderful, and can be accounted for 
only by resolving it into a miracle. 

We pause here to admire how wisely and fitly 
the plan of Christ was adapted to the purposes con- 
templated. He commands his Apostles, in the first 
place, to " go and teach all nations, baptising them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost," e knowing at the same time that 
they were utterly unable to preach the gospel in 
more dialects than the meagre and provincial phrase 
of Galilee: but, in the second place, he restrains 
d Acts ii. 6. e Matt, xxviii. 19. 



54 THE NEW LIGHT. 

their embassy till after their baptism in the Holy 
Spirit, till after the reception of power from on 
high, till after he enables them by the Spirit to 
Speak in all the languages of all men. Christ does 
not command or send men to do things without giv- 
ing them power to do. But times and things are 
changed in our sad days! Many now suppose they 
are called and sent to preach the gospel, while ev- 
ery body but themselves knows that they have not 
one talent in that way; for many of them neither 
understand what the gospel is, nor how to utter it if 
they did know. — But not to digress, let me say with 
regard to the Apostles, that as the confusion of 
tongues at the tower of Babel, tended to the scat- 
tering of mankind into all territories after the flood; 
so here the speaking of all tongues by the power 
of the Spirit, became the effective and original 
means of uniting all men in one body or church, 
and in one spirit. . The barrier of language is bro- 
ken down, and rills of living water are made to 
flow through every medium of human thought. The 
tongues of Babel are conquered by the tongues of 
Zion, while the pealing joy reverberates through all 
the redeemed Empire — 

" Ten thousand, thousand are their tongues, 
But all their joys are one!" 

It is now" apparent to the reader, from all that 
has been said, that Jesus was the original and di- 
vine depository of miraculous powers in reference to 
the church; that when he ascended on high he sent 
miraculous gifts in copious measure upon his Apos- 
tles, and, in the primitive age, upon his disciples in 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 55 

general; and that the Apostles, so long as they 
lived, in all their travels over the earth, occasionally 
wrought miracles in confirmation of the truth and 
of their mission. "And they w^ent forth and preach- 
ed every where, the Lord working with and con- 
firming the word by signs following."/* I have 
neither time nor space, nor is it necessary, to give 
particular instances in which more than human pow- 
er was exerted by the Apostles: it is enough for our 
purpose that we refer you to their history and their 
Epistles. And when you shall have made the cir- 
cuit of these records, a question of the utmost im- 
portance, will, most likely, arise in your mind — 
What was the design or use of miracles? and the an- 
swer will come as readily as the question — To con- 
firm or establish the truth on the earth. 

And now, before we go farther, we find ourselves 
compelled to pause at this point, in order to ascer- 
tain, if we can, whether miracles in themselves be 
necessary to authenticate a revelation from God; — 
whether the nature of riian is such as out of its ne- 
cessity to require such interpositions. 

By some means not necessary now to be investi- 
gated, the almost entire race of mankind have, and 
always have had, some views more or less clear, of 
miracles: and these views obtain only where the 
existence of a God or of* gods is acknowledged. 
The impression that there is a God, or that there 
are gods, is inseperable from the impression that 
there are miracles: for what is a miracle but some 
work or act that man cannot do, and which there- 
fore if it be done at all, is the work of a God? We 
fMarkxvL20. 



56 THE NEW LIGHT. 

cannot consider that a miracle which falls out with- 
in the known compass of human power: but w^hen 
we reflect that there is a God, w^e necessarily reason 
of him that his works, if he work at all, must trans- 
cend those of men, and that if any man among us 
performs w^orks beyond the sphere of human wisdom 
and power for the purpose of proving to us that he 
is the agent or minister of Jehovah for certain pur- 
poses, we feel that we cannot resist the force of 
those evidences. It is a law of our nature that we 
be swayed and captivated by such means. 

It will not be too much to say here that the major 
part of mankind in civilized countries, believe there 
is a religion of divine origin. That this belief ex- 
ists cannot be questioned by the most busy unbeliev- 
er. Well, I propose to prove that man is so consti- 
tuted that he cannot believe a religion to be divine 
without a miracle real or fabulous. If a false mir- 
acle be believed, it will establish the faith of the 
believer; but even this false miracle derives all its 
power to delude from the fact that it is so artfully 
contrived as to conceal its falsehood and appear as 
true. The heathen believed their religion to be di- 
vine, because they had been deluded by the prodi- 
gies of their oracles and priests. But can we con- 
clude that the idea of a true divine reUgion is at all 
affected by those sorceries and jugglaries? I repeat, 
then, that the impression that there is a true religion, 
is in the world; and my argument is, that such a re- 
ligion never could have been conceived of by any 
man but from the existence of a true miracle. 

For the sake of the case, we may conceive of 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 57 

God as willing to communicate a knowledge of him- 
self to mankind together with the cardinal rules of 
human duty. We may conceive of him as actual- 
ly having made such a revelation of himself. But 
when we come to enquire into his mode of doing it, 
we find that all the acts done, that all the words 
said, that all the power shown, that all the wisdom 
developed, arc precisely such as any ordinary man 
might do, or say, or show: — could we believe that 
such a system originated in the divine mind? Could 
we regard it as having the stamp or seal of his au- 
thority? I think it impossible. In attempting to 
believe on such evidence we would offer an insult to 
our own nature — and this the Deity never intended 
us to do. The nature of man is such, that God him- 
self cannot convince him that a religion is divine if 
it want the evidence of miracle. '• The demand of 
the mind for miracles as testimony of the Divine 
presence and power, is intuitive with all men; and 
those very individuals who have doubted the exis- 
tence or necessity of miracles, should they examine 
their own convictions on this subject, would see that 
by an absolute necessity, if they desired to give the 
world a system of religion, vrhether truth or impos- 
ture, in order to make men receive it as of divine 
authority, they must work miracles to attest its truth, 
or make men believe they did so. 

'• The conviction that miracles are the true attes- 
tation of immediate divine agency, is so constitu- 
tional (allow the expression) with the reason, that 
so soon as men persuade themselves they are the 
special agents of God in propagating some truth in 



58 THE NEW LIGHT. ^ 

the world, they adopt likewise the belief that they 
have ability to work miracles. There have been 
many sincere enthusiasts who believed that they 
were special agents of heaven; and in such cases 
the conviction of their own miraculous powers ari- 
ses as a necessary concomitant of the other opinion. 
Among such, in modern times, may be instanced 
Immanuel Swedenbourg, and Irvine the Scotch 
preacher. Impostors also, perceiving that miracles 
were necessary in order that the human mind should 
receive a religion as divine, have invariably claimed 
miraculous powers. Such instances recur constant- 
ly from the days of Elymas down to the Morman, 
Joe Smith. 

"All the multitude of false religions that have 
been believed since the world began, have been in- 
troduced by the power of this principle. Mira- 
cles BELIEVED lie at the foundation of all religions 
which men have ever received as of divine origin. 
No matter how degrading or repulsive to reason in 
other respects, the fact of its establishment and 
propagation grows out of the belief of men that 
miraculous agency lies at the bottom. This belief 
will give currency to any system however absurd; 
and without it no system can be established in the 
minds of men, however high and holy may be its 
origin and design."^ 

In conclusion we remark, that the miracles of Je- 
sus and his apostles, taking in the collateral evidence 
of their holy and harmless lives, were such as to 
give the impression not only of sincerity but of truth 
to the doctrine they taught. These miracles called 
g Plan of Salvation, pp 41, 42. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 59 

the attention of mankind to the character and pro- 
fessions of Christ; and being satisfactory in their 
nature, a new dispensation was born among men by- 
divine power thus exhibited. The christian church 
was supported by miracles for several years, for so 
long, indeed, as they were essential to the purposes 
of her establishment in the truth: after which the 
gift of tongues ceased, prophesying failed, miracu- 
lous knowledge vanished away, and faith, hope, and 
love remained — and remain to the times in which 
we live. 



CII\PTER VI. 

Of the Ordinary powers of the church and of each Individual — 
Of Faith as a principle of Action — Of Hope, its nature and 
tendency — Of Love or Charity, its office in the Heart and Life 
— Description of these Graces by Mr. Price — Recapitulation 
and Conclusion. 

We have now seen, under a general view, the 
nature and design of the Christian Church, her uni- 
ty, efScience, and moral force. We have contem- 
plated miracles as not only connected with her prim- 
itive existence, but necessary to it: and at the close 
of the last chapter we hinted at a time when mira- 
cles would altogether cease, because they would no 
longer be necessary. But there is 3^ et an item which 
we have not in form touched, namely. 

The ordinary powers of the church. — It can- 



60 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



not be supposed that in a work like this, I should 
go minutely into every feature of every subject. 
Such a course would carry me far beyond the limits 
of my original purpose and require volumes. My 
intention was, and is, to give a plain and general 
view of the church, support it by an authority 
which none will dispute, so that the Apostacy, to 
be discoursed of afterwards, may be seen and esti- 
mated in all its horrid forms. There is no way so 
effectual of seeing or realizing darkness, as by con- 
trasting with it the light. Let me see, in the first 
place, the beauties and glories of the Christian 
Church, if I would calculate the dark and damning 
nature of Romanism and its progeny. 

All the ordinary powers and operations of the 
christian church, are embraced under these three 
heads. Faith, Hope, Charity or Love. This trinity 
of virtues unites in every individual christian and 
in the whole church at large. Their operation is 
that of heaven upon the earth, as will be seen by 
the following condensed view. 

L Of Faith. — He that believes, or has confi- 
dence with all his heart, that God raised up his Son 
from among the dead, will believe with a like con- 
fidence every other fact which divine revelation has 
connected with it, whether of prophecy, of history, 
or of doctrine. The fact of the resurrection of Je- 
sus is the great central and generic fact which 
as a whole comprehends or implies every part, ev- 
ery species of kindred fact throughout the whole 
compass of God's revelations. Thus, every proph- 
ecy of the Jewish Scriptures^ running in a circle of 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 61 

fifteen hundred years, points to this fact as its cen- 
tre and source. Thus, too, the whole law of Mo- 
ses, moral or ceremonial, pointed to this fact, as 
without it that law must ever remain a knot of inex- 
plicable riddles and mysteries. And thus, too, the 
prophetic record finds its whole spirit and life in the 
immortality of the Son of God. Besides, there is 
not an item in the history of Jesus, of the Prophets, 
or of the Apostles, that is not illuminated by this 
greatest, most precious, and self luminous fact that 
Jesus arose from the dead. Once more: There is 
not a doctrine of the christian religion but owes its 
virtue or power over the human heart to this spring 
of light, life, and joy, the revival from the dead of 
Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. 

The belief, I say then, of this great fact of facts 
— belief with all the heart — will fully revolutionize 
its possessor, it will direct his feelings, his thoughts 
and his life, into new and holy channels; it will, in 
its sequence, make him "a new creature" — "old 
things" will " pass away," "all things" will "be- 
come new." a The fact itself will be as the centre 
of attraction, and faith the mode of its influence. 
But no sooner does the soul, in the line and upon 
the current of faith, approach the Savior of the 
world and find pardon, than it begins to study how 
it may best continue in the line and current of du- 
ty. For this purpose it is furnished in the Scrip- 
tures with many persuasives and inducements, not 
the least of which are the promises of God made to 
and conditioned on continued obedience. The 
character of God in heaven finds its representative 
2 Cor. V. 17. 



&2 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



on earth in the heart and life of the humble and 
sincere christian; so that every command to duty, 
on the part of God, is answered by a correspond- 
ing affection of the heart. If God says, '' Seek 
my face," the soul most joyfully answers, " thy face* 
Lord will I seek." If God sajs, "Love me with 
all your heart," the humble spirit bows before him 
in devout prayer, saying, "Give me help to perform 
this delightful duty!'' God w^ill have the voluntary 
service of them that worship him, and for this pur- 
pose (if I may use a figure long since made sacred 
by a prophet) he circumcises the hearts of such as 
are born into his family that they may love him, and 
that his service may be our ti^ue and most to be de- 
sired liberty, b 

But I will here state what all men of observation 
have noticed, that in a community composed of 
such individuals as described above, there always 
must be some who, either by natural strength of 
mind, or by superior acquirements, will take the 
lead and government of the rest.. This po.^ition of 
some in relation to others, is not only a divine one, 
but it becomes so out of the necessity of the case, 
and hence is natural too. Such a community must 
consist of the aged, the middle-aged, and the young; 
and it is the order of grace as well as of nature, 
that the young and inexperienced, submit them- 
selves to such as are old and full of practical wis- 
dom. Out of this relation between all the mem- 
bers of the primitive church, grew the office of 
Bishops or Elders, who became, by reason of their 
age, their piety, and experience, as it were fathere 
bJer.iv. 4 — Rom. ii. 29. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 63 

and protectors of the family. Pious and good old 
% men — those who coald, in reference to the others, 
be called seniors, if thej held a general good re- 
port both within and without — became, bj virtue of 
these moral and natural attributes of character, the 
governors or rulers of the christian churches. Pe- 
ter writing to such, tells them to "take the over- 
sight, not by constraint, but willingly; not for 
filthy lucre, but of a rea^y mind; neither as being 
lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to 
the flock." c In such a society faith was of infinite 
service; for its tendency would be to keep down all 
seeking after the preference, all strife after being 
greatest, the bane of the eldership in after times. 
But essays on the Eldership are no part of my busi- 
ness at present: I wish simply to illustrate the na- 
ture and power of faith. 

Faith may be regarded as the eye of the soul, by 
which it seizes the vvhole of divine testimony, wheth- 
er it be prophecy, or precept, or history. It ap- 
propriates to itself and makes available all the facts 
and promises of the gospel. It leads its possessor 
into all the riches of the joint inheritance with 
Christ, and makes him feel conscious that the land 
of his fathers, a habitation in the heavens, is his 
own. He feels that he can please God in the exer- 
cise of such a principle and in the actions to which 
it so joyfully leads. Faith is to the christian preci- 
ous beyond all price ; for it brings somewhat of heav- 
en into his soul, lighting up the darkness of earth 
with a heavenly glory, and representing the image of 
God in the family of man. 
c 1 Pet. V. % 3. 



64 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



2» Of Hope. — By a beautiful figure of speech 
the strength of which the reacercan easily appre- 
ciate, Paul calls hope the "anchor of the soul;^' and 
to indicate its office and power, he says it is " both 
sure and stedfast."fi? The christian is represented 
in this figure as a ship out at sea but carrying her 
anchor, or riding at anchor and waiting for a favor- 
able moment to stand into port. And do we not 
feel, reader, while we now make the great voyage of 
life, that we have our anchor hope on board, and 
that its object beyond the voyage, imparts its ener- 
gy and gives life to our labors? What a dreary sea 
would this ocean of man be to us had we no hope! 
Had we no hope of living again, this our precarious 
life would seem as if it had been given in vain. 
We could neither bear to live, nor dare to die! 

But you have noticed, in looking over the picture 
of the primitive church as drawn by the apostles, 
how all alive the members were to the things that 
formed the burthen of their " lively hope." To say 
all in one sentence, they hoped for a better life, 
they hoped to live forever! But this great hope is 
generic; for he who hopes to live for ever, hopes for 
all that which shall invest him with eternal life, 
namely, the end of a wicked world; the glorious 
advent of the Judge; the resurrection of the dead 
saints and translation of the living; the appearance 
of all the holy angels; the gathering together of 
all the saints of all time; and satisfactory justifica- 
tion of all the ways of God towards man. Besides 
all this, we hope to see a city of God's own building, 
which shall descend from God out of heaven, having 

dHeb. vi. 19. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 65 

the glory of God, and adorned as a bride for her 
husband. This will he the Capitol of the Redeemed 
Universe^ built after the fashion of the thoughts of 
Jehovah, infinitely transcending in beauty and glo- 
rious architecture any thing previously seen on the 
great globe. Nineveh on the Tigris, Babylon on 
the Euphrates, London on the Thames, Zion on her 
own mountains, or Rome on her seven hills, were 
but villages and dingy hovels compared with the 
City of God! Whether this Divine City, the hab- 
itation of the nations of the saved, will always con- 
tinue on the New Earth as its splendid Capital; or 
whether, after a time, it will be removed up to hea^^- 
en again, and with it through the air take along all 
the immortal of the race of Adam, is a matter 
which does not seem to lie in my way, and is too rec- 
ondite to be materially interesting to us in our pres- 
ent mode of being. One thing is certain, its "ex- 
ceedingly great and eternal weight of glory,'' will 
belong to us as the reward of faith and piety: and 
may we not rest in what God has promised with the 
utmost confidence? 

Having thus presented to it so glorious a consum- 
mation, the Christian's hope derives in reference to 
liim an omnipotent moral leverage, by which his 
life and alFcctions are swayed and directed. The 
power of hope is recognized and manifested more 
especially in two ways: first, in purifying the heart 
and life; secondly, in the impartation of joy or de- 
light. Touching the first, it is enough to say in the 
language of John, "Every man that hath this hope 
in him purifieth himself even as he is pure."e We 
^ el John iii. 3. 



66 THE NEW LIGHT. 

cannot sincerely hope to see God, without feeling 
at the same time a most intense and living desire 
for more purity of heart and life. Respecting the 
rejoicing of hope, it may suffice to allude to a few 
cases in proof. Paul says, we " rejoice in hope of 
the glory of God,"/* and "hope maketh not asham- 
ed.'^ He commands that Christians rejoice in hope;g' 
that they abound in hope through the power of the 
Holy Spirit; A and that they should understand 
"what is the hope '^ of their vocation or calHng. i 
This hope is styled " the hope laid up in heaven," A* 
and "the hope of the gospel." Saints are said 1o 
be defended by this hope, as a warrior by his hel- 
met, / and hence it is denominated the good m and 
that blessed hope which shall be consummated at 
the appearing of the Great God and of Jesus 
Christ, n The saints are admonished to "hold fast 
the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm 
unto the end." o Peter calls it a lively or " living 
hope,"jo to indicate the divine energy it imparls to 
the heirs of salvation. 

With what a mighty and most precious principle^ 
therefore, has the Holy Spirit armed our intellectual 
and moral nature, by giving us to hope in God — 
that we shall see him; that we shall enjoy him; that 
we shall see and enjoy Jesus the friend of sinners; and 
that we shall live in a happy and beautiful world 
adorned by the la^t finishing touches of the Almigh- 
ty Architect himself, where not only beauty but 
eternal felicity and order shall dwell in all their 
luxuriance I 

fRom.v.2. gRom, xii. 12. liRomxv. 13. iEph. i. 18. Col.i.5 
IThess.v.a mThessaiifi. nTit.iilS. oHeb.m6. pPet.iS. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 67 

3, Of Love. — ¥/hi]e faith is to the mind "the 
substance of things hoped for, and the evidence" or 
rather confidence " of things not seen/' 5' and while 
jiope is as an anchor to the soul, or the avenue 
through which our Heavenly Father communicates 
joj and peace to the believer; love — our love to 
God in return for his to us — our love to all his com- 
mands and to each other for the truth's sake — ena- 
bles us to relish whatever is holy, whether it be the 
law of God which is spiritual, the gospel which is 
easy and pleasant to the spiritual appetite, or the 
people of God who after the pattern of the divine 
nature are "created in righteousness and true holi- 
ness." r It is impossible to separate faith, hope, and 
love while they exist on the earth; for if we enquire 
for the work of faith, it is the labor of love and the 
patience of hope: faith works by love. 5 We can 
do no more here than to remind the reader, that 
love is the great principle in the christian religion 
which fulfils every good law, and which is the life 
and soul of all acceptable obedience. We may 
imagine a miraculous faith to exist without love; we 
may fancy men speaking with all the eloquence of 
their kind and even with the tongues of angels; we 
may suppose others to understand all knowledge and 
alt mysteries; we arc allowed to suppose that oth- 
ers may give all their goods to the poor, and their 
own bodies to be burned as martyrs to their convic- 
tions, without true love to God: but the humble and 
unostentatious disciple who in his heart possesses it, 
will find acceptance at the bar of God, when, rais* 
ed up immortal, that very immortality will be his 

q Heb. XI. 1 . r Eph. iv. 24. s Gal. v. 6, and 1 Thess. i. 3. 



68 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ready passport to the "eternal mansions." And 
"now," since the age of miracles has ceased^ since 
the gift of tongues is known no more, and no more 
prophecies are uttered; since superhuman knowl- 
edge has fled, and there is no longer a faith that can 
remove mountains — "now abideth faith, hope, love; 
but the greatest of these is love." / I beg leave to 
conclude this very general and rapid glance at 
faith, hope, and charity, by the introduction of a few 
lines which are as true as they are beautiful. 

As through the artists' intervening glass 

Our eye observes the distant planets pass; 

A little we discover, but allow 

That more remains unseen than art can show : 

So, whilst our mind its knowledge would improve — 

Its feeble eye intent on things above — 

High as we may we lift our reason up, 

By faith directed, and confirmed by hope; 

Yet we are able only to survey 

Dawnings of beams and promises of day; 

Heav'n's fuller affluence mocks our dazzled sight, 

Too great its swiftness, and too strong its light. 

But soon the mediate clouds shall be dispel'd; 

The sun shall soon be face to face beheld. 

In all his robes, with all his glory on 

Seated sublime on his meridian throne. 

Then constant Faith, and holy Hope sheill die, 

One lost in certainty, and one in joy : 

Whilst thou, more happy power, fair Charity, 

Triumphant sister, greatest of the Three, 

Thy ofHce and thy nature still the same, 

Lasting thy lamp and unconsum'd thy flame, 

Shalt still survive ! 

Shalt stand before the hosts of heav'n confessed, 
For ever blessing, and for ever bless'd." — Price, 

Let me now recapitulate for a moment. We 
have seen how the Christian Church w as originally 
tlCor.xiii. 13. ^ 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 69 

founded; that she was one and designed to be but 
one; that, to manifest her authority she was inves- 
ted with miraculous powers; and that finally, she 
was armed with every institution and every law 
necessary to perpetuate her own existence on the 
earth by imparting faith, hope, and love, so as to 
have enjoyment as well as the performance of duty. 
Like JEtve she was the constituted mother of all liv- 
ing, but like her was liable to be deceived. It is 
plain, therefore, if the church apostatised from her 
Husband, the fault must be sought elsewhere than 
in her laws or in the affections of her Lord. How 
an institution founded so carefully — how a people 
loved so tenderly — how a society so well guarded 
and defended — could apostatize, are subjects that 
would open a wide field of investigation, and in- 
volve discussions foreign to our designs in this work. 
We will say merely, that had God so framed and 
fixed the Christian church that she could not fall, 
she never could have been praised or rewarded for 
standing. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Independence of the Christian Churches in the Beginning — Phi- 
losophy of this Arrangement — .\ power beyond individual Con- 
gregations examined — Rise, Progress and completion of the 
Federative Principle — -Archbishops and Metropolitans, how 
they arose — How the Churches became the servants of One 
Man — Testimony of Mosheim — If the early Churches confed- 
erated, what was the Design? — Christ did not srive any direct 
occasion to the ambition of Ecclesiastics, by making one church 
so depend on another, as that the union of all would originate a 
power possessed by none individaally> — Conclusion. 

In order that a fall portrait of the christian 
church be presented, there remain yet two features 
to be delineated, the independence of individual 
congregations, and the name or names of the univer- 
sal or general church. To the former of these fea- 
tures we now direct our attention. 

That the several christian congregations, in the 
beginning, at Jerusalem, in all Judea, and among 
the Gentiles, were each distinct and independent 
bodies, in a modified and restricted sense of that 
term, is evident ahke from Scripture and the earli- 
est ecclesiastical annals. Congregations were es- 
tablished in the different cities, villages, and coun- 
try places, and were governed by either the Apos- 
tles in person, or by their Epistles afterwards, so far 
as matters of faith were concerned, and by bishops 
or elders as the executives of the divine law. Each 
congregation was a family, and the Bishop or Bish- 
ops acted as fathers who had been appointed to 
"take care of the church of God," that is, of the 
particular church over which their supervision or 



ox THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 71 

episcopacy extended. These bishops, for the most 
part, had been instrumental in fprnning or collecting 
those early congregations, for they " labored in word 
and in doctrine;" and their episcopal power seemed 
to arise naturally out of that relation to the people. 
A multitude that had been gathered together by 
the power of the gospel as wielded by those pure 
and devoted teachers, virtually gave their suffrages 
to them as bishops when they obeyed the gospel un- 
der their administration of it. If they obtained sal- 
vation by the preaching of the word, the men made- 
instrumental to this service, became the instruments 
of government in the church, as a second, and in 
most cases perhaps, as a necessary step and conse- 
quence. It seems that those early bishops were 
mostly public teachers of religion, and claimed by 
apostolic direction, a "double honor" when com- 
pared with those seniors who did not perform so 
great a public service. It was the duty of all the 
members of each community, to love each other, 
and to manifest their love by good offices reciprocal- 
ly performed, not in reference lo spiritual matters 
only, but as respected the temporal circumstances 
of each other. Being members one of another, 
they helped each other in all things, as we may sup- 
pose the members of a well-regulated family to do, 
out of a kindred feeling and kind affection. If any 
were poor and destitute, the funds of the congrega- 
tion were brought to alleviate their distresses. If 
any were sick, the elders first, and the disciples gen- 
erally, consoled them by their presence and the 
kindly words of sympathy and love. If strangers 



72 THE NEW LIGHT. 

came among them, the rites of hospitality were ex- 
tended with the promptness of a living affection; 
while the aged and infirm enjoyed the good offices 
of a general, fiUal, and generous respect and atten- 
tion. The bishop led or presided in the public 
meetings, as a father presides at his own table, or 
in his own house. His duties and responsibilities, 
as bishop, extended over so much territory only as 
that which was occupied by the congregation over 
which he presided. He held not a prerogative be- 
yond those geographical limits. If he went abroad 
into the world to preach the gospel in other places, 
he but fulfilled the injunction of his Master to 
preach the glad tidings to all nations — for to that 
Master belong all the nations of the earth. The 
truth alone, which is universal in its nature, is given 
to the evangelist as the means of converting man- 
kind; and if it happened, as doubtless it sometimes 
did, that the bishop of one congregation became 
the evangelist in the formation of another, it became 
his duty to appoint a bishop or bishops over the 
new community, from among the seniors in it, with 
the concurrence necessarily implied, of the recent 
congregation. In the same way, still another church 
could be formed in Another place, and still another, 
till the world was filled with church esafter the model 
of the original one at Jerusalem. 

For the purpose of bringing the subject of enqui- 
ry before the mind of the reader, he may suppose 
hundreds and even thousands of such communities 
as that described above as existing in all parts of 
the world — many of which would therefore occupy 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 73 

contiguous sections, and border on the territories of 
each other. The question then rises, In how far 
are these churches or communities independent of 
each other? or are they dependent on each other at 
all? If dependent, how far and for what purpose? — 
That the Head of the church intended the several 
branches of the general body to possess indepen- 
dence of each other to a certain degree, to a de- 
gree that would prevent consolidation for special 
purposes, we have already hinted; but the proof 
will be detailed as we proceed. 

It cannot be supposed that the Lord Jesus who 
possesses all wisdom to frame laws for his body, and 
all benevolence to care for its purity and honor in 
the world, would so constitute one congregation in 
relation to another as that corruption must inevita- 
bly issue from their juxtaposition and mutual rela- 
tions. If different congregations depend in such a 
manner upon each other, as to create a power which 
none of them hold as individual communities, it is 
difficult to see how corruptions and apostacies could 
be kept down. If all the church taken together 
has a power, of discipline for instance, which any 
particular church has not, and that disciplinary pow- 
er is only sufficient to meet a certain case of her- 
esy, it will follow that so early as the existence of 
the first congregation, it could not have managed 
that particular case, or, indeed, any case at all. 

Long and hitherto unsuccessful has been the hunt 
after the philosopher's stone, whose touch, it is sup- 
posed, will convert all metals into gold : equally long 
and equally unsuccessful has been the grasping after 



/4 • THE NEW LIGHT. 

some power beyond the family circle and beyond in- 
dividual congregations, that shall operate, in ca,se of 
large difficalty among christians, more effectually 
than the humbler authority of small congregations 
and the Eldership. But, down to the times in which 
we live, this power has eluded the grasp of aspiring 
ecclesiastics, and must ever elude it. Among all 
that have sought for it, the church of Rome has had 
the greatest success, w^hen she made that power in- 
carnate in her ghostly monarch the pope. He, in- 
deed, was and is a pov/er beyond the family circle, 
beyond any particular church, and beyond any oth- 
er man or thing in all the world besides. I will re- 
mark, too, that it was this very doctrine of the de- 
pendence of one church upon another which n*eces- 
sariiy resulted in placing a pope at the head of an 
apostate Christendom. He must have read church 
historj' in vain who has not been struck with this 
leading fact. It appeared to. the early bishops of 
Constantinople, of Alexandria, of Rome, &c. that 
there was a power b'^yond any one congregation, 
which might be wielded v/ith etfect; and long and 
ardently they all tried to attain it, till the bishop of 
Rome finally succeeded in compelling kings to lead 
his horse or kiss his toe! And I venture to say; that 
whoever sliall get hold of a power, I mean an eccle- 
siastical power, that is beyond the church, will get 
hold of an evil power, and will be an oppressor of 
mankind, however humble and honest he may have 
been in its acquirement. A power that is beyond 
any particular church and lodged in fifty or a hun- 
dred churches, by representatives or deputies, owns 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 75 

at last, however, that a portion of that same power 
is in any particular or individual church of the hun- 
dred. If it require all churches in a nation to ex- 
press that power, and if all for the sake of the case 
be one thousand, then, all things being equal, any 
one congregation may claim the one thousandth part 
of said power. On this principle, the more church- 
es the more power in the aggregate, and the less in- 
dividually. Hence we may conceive the number of 
churches so great as to ' make this famous power 
enormous, and, carried beyond every individual 
church, able to do its own will; while the power of 
any one congregation is diminished in the same pro- 
portion and reduced to nothing: but if one loses its 
power, so do all, so that the power contended for 
which is beyond any individual church, is nothing 
other or better than the power of a pope, call it 
what you may, or create it who will. 

If we may (and certainly we must) confide in the 
Holy Scriptures as affording a full picture of the 
primitive church, both as- to the manner in which 
members were added to her from the world, and the 
nature of the government under which she was 
placed, that picture was in general what we have 
represented it, and that government was episcopal 
and exceedingly light and simple. By episcopal I 
do not mean either Protestant episcopal, or Metho- 
dist episcopal; but simply episcopal, as denoting the 
powers and prerogatives of primitive bishops (t el- 
ders whose jurisdiction extended no farther than the 
bounds of the churches to which they belonged and 
to which they were amenable. Thev were at once 



76 THE NEW LIGHT. ) 

the servants of the saints and the executives of the 
divine laws. They had no power or authority to 
make laws; they saw that the laws already enacted 
by divine authority were duly enforced. Such is 
the import of the christian scriptures on this sub- 
ject, and such is the voice of all primitive antiquity. 
There was not such a thing as an archbishop in those 
days of meekness and simplicity, nor for many years 
afterwards. Archbishops, archdeacons, metropoli- 
tans, &c. &c. were the products of a power beyond 
the church, the creations and conceptions of 'Hhe 
man of sin,'^ the progeny of "the mother of har- 
lots." 

If the reader will be at the pains to investigate 
this matter a little, he will find that an archbishop 
is the necessary creature of the doctrine which 
teaches that the christian churches are so depen- 
dent upon each other and all upon a power beyond 
them, that one may and must appeal to another, 
and this to a third, &c. in order to settle great and 
important questions. Out of the nature and neces- 
sity of the case some churches are located in great 
and renowned cities. Over these the most famous 
orators and writers, as a general rule, are called to 
preside. The fame of these doctors goes abroad 
among all contiguous congregations, many of which 
have plain and, it may be, unlearned men for their 
pastors. A difficulty arises: but we now suppose 
that the notion of a power beyond them is in the 
mind of the suburban churches where the difficulty 
started. They seek the aid, of course, of the neigh- 
boring congregations, but especially of that one 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 77 

where the most famous maa is bishop. When the 
judgment of that church is had, it turns out to be 
the judgment of one bishop and a few others who 
form what may be called his cabinet. A precedent 
' is now established, and other congregations under 
similar circumstances apply in the same way for ad- 
vice and direction; so that after a while the bishop 
of the principal city becomes the principal bishop of 
the whole country: and if he be a man who has 
done and suffered much for the cause; if he have 
spoken and written till his name has become famous 
and his wisdom the admiration of friends and the 
terror of enemies, the minds of the brethren by a 
sort of instinct will be attracted towards him, and 
his counsel will be implored on all occasions. Here, 
then, is the beginning of an archiepiscopacy, here 
are the ma!;erials of which archbishops are made. 
If there be any truth in history, in this w:iy began 
the bishops of Rome their grasp after power; and 
they ceased not till Gregory VU. had reached the 
impudent climax of papal power and presumption* 
Now, if in the above case, the churches had main- 
tained what independence they originally possessed; 
if they had not sought the power beyond them, if 
they had, as well as they could, done their own 
business in a way* that common prudence always dic- 
tates; they would have maintained their independ- 
ence, without giving the ambition of others food for 
its appetite, an appetite which, once gratified, 
knows no satisfciction while it sees a povf er that it 
cannot grasp. If the churches had maintained their 
independence of each other in general, and of great 



"^^ THE NEW LIGHT. 

citj churches in particular, there never could have 
been room for the growth of an archbishop, nor 
would any bishop have aspired to that dignity. 
But they yielded up their judgment to other men by 
little and little, till the archbishops became masters 
and thej became slaves. And so it will be again 
whenever the churches go hunting for a power'" be- 
yond them; for such a power can be found only in 
a one-man dynasty or in a general council. In ei- 
ther case it will be popery, call it by what name 
you may. 

That the above reasonings and conclusions are 
correct, appears with great clearness from the tes- 
timony of accredited historians. Of the church in 
the (irst century Mosheim gives this account: "The 
churches, in those early times, were entirely inde- 
pendent, none of them being subject to any foreign 
jurisdiction, but each governed by its own rulers 
and its own laws; for, though the churches founded 
by the apostles had this particular deference shown 
to them, that they were consulted in difficult and 
doubtful cases, yet they had no juridical authority, 
no sort of supremacy over the others, nor the least 
right to enact laws for them. Nothing, on the con- 
trary, is more evident than the perfoct equality that 
reigned among the primitive churches; nor .does 
there even appear, in this tirst century, the smallest 
trace of that association of provincial churches, 
from which counciis and metropolilans derive their 
origin. It was only in the second century that the 
custom of holding councils commenced in Greece, 
whence it soon spread through the other provinces." a 
A Wood's Edition, vol. ii. p. 39, 40. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 79 

It can be most easily demonstrated from ecclesi- 
astical history, that most of the errors of Catholi- 
cism were borrowed from the various heathen na- 
tions into which the gospel was carried. It soon 
became tinged with the likeness of heathenism, both 
in its doctrines and in its f@rm of government. 
Among the first impressions it received from pagan- 
ism, stands the association of provincial churches, 
after the manner of the Greek Republics; for the 
reader is aware how the several nations of Greece 
confederated for the purpose of repelHng any com- 
mon foe. The hint thus given by the confederation 
of States, w^as seized by yery early and perhaps 
also well-meaning ecclesiastics, and the confedera- 
tion of churches seems to have been formed almost 
without a struggle. And as among the stales Athens 
or Lacedemon, or some other, would hold the pre- 
eminence, so among the churches, Constantinople, or 
Alexandria, or Rome, would be exalted to the chief 
dignity. This association of provincial churches, 
therefore, was an early, if not the first step towards 
the general apostacy which from that time began to 
spread in all directions like the plague of leprosy. 
Some churches held out for a time and maintained 
their independence against the enchroachments of 
the power beyond them; but the process of time 
being the process of error, they gradually yielded, 
till the universal church became an empire under 
one head, and congregational liberty almost totally 
disappeared. Such was the necessary state of things 
from the principle admitted, and such, in all ages, it 
must be, till man shall cease to lore power, and am- 



°" THE NEW WGHT. 



bition shall cease to be the master passion of his na- 
ture, if, then, the voice of historj and the experi- 
ence of ages can be of any use to us who live in the 
last times; if we would keep the churches pure from 
the despotism of the powers beyond them, we must 
be jealous of the co-operation or confederation of 
churches in any given district or province. 

Among the first duties of the churches when they 
were founded by the apostles or primitive evange- 
lists, stood that great one of "holding forth the word 
of life'' to their fellow-men around them— of preach- 
ing the gospel for the salvation of mankind. But 
for this greatest and most noble purpose they formed 
no confederation or co-operation of churches. They 
did not, giving countenance to the fashion of our 
times, meet by delegates from several churches, and 
say by those delegates how many dollars each con- 
gregation would give per annum in order to sustain 
evangelists in the field. There does not appear the 
remotest hint of such confederations either in the 
Acts of apostles, in the Epistles, or in the most primi- 
tive annals of the church. On the contrary, self- 
denying men were for the most part the instruments of . 
planting congregations in diHerent and widely situa- 
ted places; and this they no doubt often did at the sac- 
rifice of their ease and of all the comforts of home. 
Thus founded, many sons of the churches arose 
from among the members, and in process of time be- 
came teachers of religion: and if we may suppose 
that the churches obeyed the apostolic injunctions, 
those bishops or evangelists received a voluntary 
contribution from their brethren, and were thus ena- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CEUBCH. 81 

bled to labor not only in the congregations where 
they resided, but in regions beyond where the glo- 
rious gospel had not yet been heard. Indeed, ma- 
ny of these evangelist elders appear to have trav- 
eled and taught, not only amt3ng all the churches, 
but into the most distant parts, carrying with them 
wherever they went and disseminating the word of 
life. Without doubt also, they received contribu" 
tionsfrom the brethren everywhere; and this they 
did without any concert, confederation, or co-opera- 
tion of churches to that end. Indeed, such concert 
was altogether unnecessary, and seems not to have 
been thought of. 

In laying the foundation and in providing for the 
security of his church, our Lord beyond all question 
would' not give any direct occasion to the rise and 
progress of ambition in those installed as leaders or 
rulers: but may I not ask, if the whole scheme of an- 
cient and modern co-operation is not necessarily 
subject to this objection? True, men may pervert 
any thing; but it is equally true that they seldom at- 
tempt to pervert a plain divine institution in a di- 
rect way. It is true likewise that the greatest er- 
rors of Catholics and Protestants grew out of the 
operation of principles which, when they were new", 
did not appear very, if at all objectionable: and 
when their impropriety was at last discovered, it 
was found next to impossible to eradicate them from 
the human mind. Confederation, or perhaps as we 
would call it, co-operation, and co-operation for ap- 
parently' laudable purposes, turned out to be the 
stock upon w^iich finally ^rew the most enormous 
6 



82 THE NEW ilGHT. 

system of bigotry and sapersiition that the world' 
has ever seen. Men may indeed pervert any things 
but it is true that religious and perhaps even good 
men, out of a good but unfortunate motive, have 
perverted the truth, and, stepping from the stage of^ 
action, left those who eame after them to enlarge 
the innovationsytill customs became laws of perpet- 
ual obligation. Could those ancient and perhaps 
well-meaning men who first broached the confede- 
ration of churches, have risen from the dead and 
viewed the full development of the principle in the 
person and station of the notorious Hildebrand 
about the year 1073, they would have exclaimed 
with horror at the sight, "Is it possible that all this 
mighty tree grew from so small an aeorn!" Thus^ 
from the history of the church and our most cool and 
impartial reasoning, we conclude that this co-opera- 
. tionor confederation 6f churches did not proceed 
from the mind of the Lord, bat from some attempt 
on the part of men (as charity would suggest) to ad- 
vance the divine glory by the rules of human pru- 
dence. The system stands by these rules reproba;- 
ledand discarded. 

Now if, for the best and most noble of all object?^ 
an object for the accomplishment of which more 
than any other the church is located on the earthy 
to wit, the preaching of the gospel for the salvation 
of mankind, the churches did not co-operate other- 
wise than in faith and prayer, having no federal or 
general treasury, having no master-mind but that of 
the Lord to lead them by his word; can it be imag- 
ined (here was a confederation for any miner pur- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 83 

pose? It may be supposed as the next most reason- 
able object, that the early churches associated for 
the purpose of mutual edification and worship — that 
is, that each might hear from all, and rejoice in the 
progress of the truth. But were we put to the test 
of Scripture, or were a precept or an example re- 
quired, we should not know in what book or chap- 
ter to look for it. 

But suppose there were and we could find it, a 
power beyond the church, a power which no one 
particular church can wield, is there a man now 
living who will venture to tell us what it is, how it 
must operate, or what are its objects? Is it a power 
vested in one man, or in many? If in one man, 
who is he? If in many, who are they, how are they 
commissioned, and where shall we find them? Must 
they be chosen by the churches to make of them- 
selves an exccuUve churcli, a synod of elders who 
shall e^ 0^670, decide all cases of a general nature 
and publish the result of their deliberations? By 
what laws will they be governed that do not govern 
individual churches? And when we have found this 
transecclesiastical power, by what name shall we 
call it? Is it named in the Bible? — Will some con- 
lioisscur in the science of powers decipher these 
problems? Will some sectarian or Catholic answer 
these questions? 

Having now seen that the primitive churches 
v/ere independent of each other so far as members 
of the same great family could be, a question rises, 
whelhcr thus organized and circumstanced, they 
could effect more, or would effect less, towaixJs the 



84 * THE NEW LIGHT. 

salvation of mankind, than by confederation? The 
answer is by no means difficult, if we will take into 
consideration the early history of the church. With- 
in two or three centuries such was the progress of 
the gospel that it had broken down nearly thev/hole 
scheme of idolatry in the old world. It had perva- 
ded all ranks of societry, the peasantry, the milita- 
ry, and the halls of legislation. Its leaven reached 
the three measures of meal, Europe, Asia and Afri- 
ca, till the whole was leavened. Without concert, 
without a joint fund made up by co-operative con- 
tribution, the ministers of religion went forth, with 
truth upon their tongues and the love of God and 
man in their hearts, and, amenable to no power be- 
yond their respective churches save God himself, 
preached deliverance to the captives and the accep- 
table year of the Lord to the poor and needy. And 
the people came in like a flood! New churches 
were formed, all around which the w^ai^es of benev- 
olence passed outward to the excitation of other 
masses, and thence onv/ard the ditFusive and redeem- 
ing power ran till the ant*hem of redemption ^vas 
pealed in remotest regions of the earth. — Such was 
the effect of the original and congregational plan 5 
and it is worthy of note, tbat so long as this system 
lasted, the churches remained comparatively pure. 
Nay, this is the only plan by which purity can be se- 
cured, if w^e may learn any thing from the history 
of the past. It appears to me that divine providence 
has given us the history of the confederative principle 
to warn us of the rocks upon vv^hich others have split, 
or of the whirlpools in which they have been engulfed. 



CH VPTER VIII. 

Continuation of the subject of federative powers — Appeals ex- 
amined from Acts xv. — Arguments against Appeals — Evils of 
the Syst3m of confederation pointed out — In v/hat way' Acts 
IV. is a precedent, and of what — A iieretic before a General 
Council — Tendency of Councils — How cases of Heresy are to 
be disposed of — A Church cannot be excluded by other church- 
es — Reflections — Conclusion. 

If the primitive churches did not confederate 
for the purpose of preaching the gospel, or even for 
that of mutual edification; there remains but one 
supposition, one object for which we can conceive 
they co-operated, that of extending a general dis- 
cipline over public teachers or others whose char- 
acters were tainted or supposed to be tainted with 
heresy. But have we, in the new Testament, any 
account of such a confederation for such a purpose? 
I am aware that the ingenuity of men, from some 
matters that are incidentally mentioned, may give 
to those incidents the appearance of such federation; 
but are we at liberty to place at the foundation of 
a religious polity the conclusions and inferences of 
men however good or learned? Must the original 
independence of the churches, a truth which, as we 
have seen, is undeniable from scripture and history, 
be sapped by a proposition or two which looks plau- 
sable to the framer? Let us examine those scrip- 
tures which have been thought favorable to confed- 
eration, co-operation, and appeals from one church 
to another — for I admit that if the doctrine of ap- 
peals can be established by the Scriptures, there 
must have been a confederation of the primitive 



86 THE NEW LIGHT. 

churches for the purposes of discipline, and perhaps 
also for other purposes. 

The first passage which has been summoned to 
the service of appeals and co-operalion, is the fif- 
teenth chapter of the Acts of Apostles. Let us, 
then, in the spirit of candor and brotherly love, eX' 
amine all the facts in the case* 

First. Certain teachers of religion, it seems, Ju- 
daizers, passing out of Judeainto Syria, "taught the 
the brethren^' at Antioch, "Except ye be circum- 
cised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be 
saved.^' (Verse 1.) 

Secondly. Paul and Barnabas met these teach- 
ers in open and protracted discussion; but, failing 
to silence them, an appeal was made to the apostles 
and elders at Jerusalem " about this question." 
(Verse 2.) 

Thirdly* When Paul and Barnabas arrived at 
Jerusalem, they found a party there of the same 
Judaizing character, with whom there was also 
"much disputing." (Verses 4 — 7.) 

Fourthly. But the apostles, Peter and James, 
whose speeches are recorded, in the audience and 
with tiie approbation of the elders and the multi- 
tude, decided the question in favor of Barnabas and 
Paul, and concluded by sending letters to that ef- 
fect to the Gentile congregations. (Verses 8 — 29.) 

Such are the facts, and such is the naked case, 
from which it appears, 

1, That there was indeed an appeal made with 
the approbation of the church at Antioch, to " the 
apostles and elders^' at Jerusalem, concerning a 



esr THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 87 

qnesfion of vital importance to the interests of Chris- 
tianity. Some have supposed this Jerusalem con- 
'Vention to have been the first council^ but there was 
no council in the case — it was simply the gathering 
together of the members of but one church to hear 
a special case brought to their notice by two evange- 
lists. The matter contended for by Paul and Barna- 
bas was a part of Christianity which had been denied 
by some early errorists: and who so capable of de- 
termining every part of the christian religion as 
^' the apostles and elders" at Jerusalem? Paul in- 
deed had done so before; but he was desirous to ob- 
tain what he knew would be accorded, the concur- 
rence of all the other apostles. He was not disap- 
pointed. — We notice, 

2. That the appeal was made under such cir-* 
cumstances,and was of such a nature, that none but 
apostles could respond to it authoritatively. Chris- 
tianity was then new and recent, and there were 
features in it which had not been developed, and 
this circumstance gave occasion to the establishing 
of a point of doctrine which gave "consolation" to 
all the churches of the Gentiles — for it is said "they 
rejoiced for the consolation" which these " decrees" 
brought to them. (Verse 31.) The appeal, then, 
from Antioch to Jerusalem, was designed to bring 
forth a feature of Christianity which was not gener- 
ally known, or which was in doubt, and was equiva- 
lent to a query put to the apostles on the subject — 
and they answered it. 

With great plainness of speech and great candor, 
we BOW ask— Does this case form a precedent either 



88 • THE A^EW LIGHT*. 

for appeal or confederation? and we answer, It forms 
a precedent for a certain kind of appeals. If any 
are io doubt of Rny doctrine of the apostles, there 
is liberty to appeal to them for, its solution — it is 
right in all ages to appeal in all things to the apos- 
tles, that they may settle and establish every doc« 
trine of religion. We. now appeal to them for pre- 
cept or prescription relative to appeals from one 
church to another or to all, and for their authority 
for the canfederatian of churches — and do we find 
such authority in precept or example? We find, 
from the above case, that we may appeal to the 
APOSTLES for their judgment in any case; but surely 
this forms no pretext or reason that we must appeal 
toothers who are uninspired to settle cases of either 
discipline or doctrine. 

But an objector says, the appeal was made not 
only to the apostles, but to the elders also; and that 
when the decrees were published, they were sanc- 
tioned by the whole board of apostles and elders* 
This is very true; but it is equally true, that the de- 
crees sent to the Gentiles were not sent till the 
whole matter was authenticated by the HolyGhost^ 
a matter of direct revelation in the premises. "It 
seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us," say the 
apostles and elders, " to lay upon you no greater 
burden than these necessary things'' — and then fol- 
lows a catalogue of the evils to be eschewed. If we 
now ask, what did the church of Antioch gain by 
appealing to the apostles? we answer, they gained 
anew revelation in favor of the Gentiles which was 
of immense value to them, and which through tJheiB 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 89 

is the same value to us. That appeal gave origin 
to a part of the scriptures; but it can form no prec- 
edent for one church now to appeal to another, un- 
less the church appealed to is inspired in a manner 
that the appellant is not. Now, if any church 
among us, at this distance of time and since the sa- 
cred canon has been completed, can hope to gain a 
new revelation by carrying a case to another church, 
we would say, appeal by all means if you have not 
revelation enough: but if, as is the case, all church- 
es have now the same amount of revelation, the ap- 
peal must be vain, unless by an appeal a better un- 
derstanding of the common revelations may be had, 
which alters very essentially the aspect of the whole 
question. It is hence apparent with the force of 
demonstration that the casein the fifteenth of Acts 
is not, and cannot be a precedent for the notion of 
appeals from one church to another in cases either 
of discipline or of doctrine. 

But it will be demanded, though all churches 
have the same volume of revelations, do they all 
possess an equal understanding of it? May not the 
weaker and more ignorant appeal to the stronger 
and better informed? 

We answer, there is no doubt but that some 
churches possess much more wisdom and knowledge 
than others, a much better understanding of the 
scriptures, of science, and of everything. But the 
weaker and less informed congregations are not 
fools; they have knowledge enough to believe in 
God and practise his word— enough to manage their 
affairs to the extent required of them. BesideS| 



90 THE NEW LIGHT* 

their rulers may avail themselves of all the &©urces 
of instruction accessible to them, (for knowledge is 
the common property of the churches,) as for in- 
stance, by the reading <3f books, by hearing discous- 
es from others, by asking the views of other men 
who may reside at any distance, or by reading the 
holy scriptures. But the seeking and receiving 
knowledge which is distributed generally through 
the community, is a very dififerent thing from appeal- 
ing a case of any kindP from one church to another; 
for of this we have not one example of ordinary 
cases in the whole Bible. And this fact shows most 
conclusively that there was no formal co-operation 
by divine authority for any such cases among the 
early christian churches — that those churches in dif- 
ferent provinces, countries, or states, did not com- 
bine under a constitution either written or nuncupa- 
tory, for raising evangelical funds, for flinging out 
a general discipline, or for hearing appeals from in- 
dividual churches. Those ancient and unaspiring 
communities never thought of a power beyond them, 
till Greek politicians came among them and plan- 
ted the germ of their noisy and litigious philosophy. 
I cannot stop in these investigations to point out 
the evils which must follow in the train of confede- 
rations and co-operations. I beg leave to take only 
a very rapid and general view. — Wherever a co-ope- 
ration of churches happens in any district or province, 
there must be first a constitution of the organization, 
which sets forth that some ten or twenty churches 
agree to co-operate towards some desirable end, 
the proclamation of the gospel, for instance, Un" 



ox THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 91 

der the operation of this constitution, delegates from 
all those churches meel; at a time appointed for the 
purpose of sajing how much each church will pay 
towards defraying the expenses of evangelists, for 
the kindred purpose of selecting them, &c. &c. In 
the next place, there will be, in all probability, 
more candidates among the preachers than places 
for them to fill, or funds to sustain them. Some 
must be disappointed and go home displeased. But 
it turns out, finally, that the master spirit of the con- 
federation, (ybr thereis always such a spirit.) is •'cho- 
sen by the churches to travel" and preach, and to 
receive the amount subscribed by the several church- 
es. He goes on and ^'fulfils as an hireling his day," 
and, to suppose the best, receives his wages, makes 
his report to the co-operation of all he has done and 
of all he has received, perhaps, from independent 
sources, (which is carefully subtracted from the 
amount subscribed,) and then gives place to another 
subscription and a s(icond election. 

Meanwhile, before the time expires, some good 
brother comes along and travels and labors with 
him, another crosses the confederated district labor- 
ing sucessfully in the way; another touches those 
territories and effects much good: but the result is, 
that those men who are equally worthy and, it may 
be, much more needy, are compelled to retire from 
the premises with a most meagre reward, because 
the funds had been appropriated in the cooperation! 
It will follow likewise, upon succeeding elections, if 
the subscriptions in former cases have been punctu- 
ally paid, that there will be a good deal of scheming 



92 THE NEW LIGHT. 

among the preachers after the loaves and fishes of 
the co-operation. It is certainly not a breach of 
charity that we express these strong probabilities. 
Heart-burnings will arise among them, very cool 
friendships will he manifested, and open war will 
not unfrequently roar through the confederation. 
Several worthy ministers who may reside in the dis- 
trict, must labor for nothing if they labor in it^ or 
for the sparse crumbs that may be collected from 
such (and they are few j as have something to give 
over and above the co-operation subscription. In 
this relation, the system is positively oppressive and 
unjust, and becomes more and more so upon evan- 
gelists not elected, the greater the amounts sub- 
scribed. It says to one or two men, you, for this 
year, are worthy of this great work and this liberal 
pay; and to the others who may belong to the dis- 
trict, you are not worthy, nor will we pay you, un- 
less you can become popular enough with us to be 
a successful candidate! 

But we will now let the reader see that any such 
co-operation feels that it holds a power beyond any 
individual church. One of the churches by some 
means easily supposable, fails to put up the amount 
she had subscribed, and refuses to do so from some 
cause within the probable events of every day. 
She is then, by the constitution, excluded from the 
co-operation, and set back, or down, or up, just 
where she was before, with this difference, she is 
now compelled to bear an opprobrium which a hu- 
man and not a divine constitution or decree has 
fixed upon her. She may be as good as any church 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 93 

in the confederacy, and yet be compelled to suffer 
all this. I do not think that any divine institution 
can be liable to so many and strong objections. 
The money paid to two or three men, under this 
confederacy of churches, paid according to their 
public merits and private virtues, (if money must 
needs be paid,) to all the preachers in the district, 
or to as many as might occasionally visit it, would 
do more good with less evil than in the other way. 
Let the churches be taught their duty towards their 
public men, towards "the ox that treadeth out thct 
corn," and the muzzle, an engine so horribly feared 
by many, will not be put upon so many mouths as 
under the partial system of co-operation; while the 
power beyond the church will find not a victim to 
immolate upon the altar of its self-will. 

Another evil growing out of confederacies of 
churches for preaching purposes, is that of covetous- 
ness. Some ten or twenty churches, taking in a 
topographical area of some forty miles square, hire 
not more than two evangelists, when they ought to 
employ perhaps some ten or twelve or twenty. Any 
one ordinarily wealthy church should sustain one 
preacher, and would do it but for the perversions of 
this money-saving scheme of co-operation. But 
w^hen the precedent is once established that eight 
or ten churches can hire a preacher, they must make 
his preaching do for all those churches and desti- 
tute places besides, unless by pure accident some 
traveling brother should call among them. Men 
reason thus upon the subject — "Five hundred dol- 
lars must be made up; and when there are so many 



94 THE KEW LIGHT. 

to do it, it is not necessary for 77ie to go beyond 
such a sum/' The system will feed a few men, and 
starve all the rest, while, on the true plan, all might 
labor and live: but it is not possible for all to labor 
and live under such a one-sided and partial arrange-* 
jnent. Beside?, it does not always, secure the best 
talents: On the contrary, he who has the most brass, 
who can make the most noise, or who can sing the 
loudest song, or who has certain exceniricities and 
queer ways; is as likely to succeed with the co-ope- 
ration and get the fee, as he who is more learned, 
more pious, and every way more worthy of public 
confidence. If the reader will be at the pains to 
look into it, he wdll find, if I am not greatly mista- 
ken, that the history of tliese confederacies and CO-', 
«>perations, is toan alarming extent, the history of 
covetousncss. Men by th(^m are taught to study 
how little they are to give. Nor is this all: they wili 
learn to choose as few preachers as possible tiiat the 
less may be contributed on the general scale. It is 
a new scheme, not one glimpse of which is seen on 
the page of the New Testament. 

But, returning to the case in the fifteenth of Acts, 
it maybe demanded, '^does it not furnish precedent 
far the co-operation of churches in the suppressing 
of heresy? Judaizers were filling the land in aii 
directions with their doctrines, and doing much evil 
among the disciples by their disorganizing tenet,'^. 
If confederation of the churches was ever neccssa- 
ry at any time, in order to give the public christian 
sentiment in reference to heretics, this was the time,- 
^and Jerusalem was the place: — and was it not doner ' 



OH THE CHRISTIAN CIIURCHr Q5^ 

To which we answer; there was no association of 
churches for this purpose: the design of the meet- 
ing was to ascertian the mind of the Holy Spirit 
whether the Gentile believers were to be circum- 
cised or not. Paul and Barnabas vf ere the messen- 
gers who made this inquiry. They had no other 
business at Jerusalem, so far as we are advised*- 
While they were there, however, the apostles drew 
up their letter to the Gentiles, in which they notice 
the Judaizers, and say of them simply that they had 
given them no "commandment" to preach circum- 
cision. The decree was purely apostolic, sui generis ^ 
and forms no precedent for uninspired and unapos- 
tolic men to meet together, form a power beyond 
individual congregations, and pronounce who are 
heretics and who are not. This would be a high- 
handed measure indeed; and could it happen in the 
nineteenth century among christians who take the , 
Bible and nothing but the Bible for their guide in' 
religious matters, it would refresh our minds in the 
history of the Gregories and Innocents of former 
ages. For some master spirit would have to be at 
the head of such a meeting; some orator or declaim- 
er would sway the mass; but afler all, the thing 
would end not a single step nearer infallihility then 
when it commenced, and with no more honor to the 
cause of religion than if the pursuit had never been 
attempted. The history of all heresy-hunting by 
co-operations and confederacies, fully attests this. 

But an objector may be supposed to put a strong 
case — "Let it be supposed that some teacher has 
risen up in this Reformation for which we are now 



96 



THE NEW LISHT. 



pleading in the nineteenth century, a Reformation 
from Poperj and Protestantism, distinguished as we 
are by the fact that we reject all human creeds and 
formularies, all human names and polities in reli- 
gion, and take the scriptures alone for our Creed 
and Confession of faith. Let this teacher broach 
doctrines not generally received among us, and 
which most of us beheve to be heretical and subver- 
sive of the faith;— let him propagate his doctrines 
with great zeal and learning;~let him begin to 
lead away disciples after him;— let him cittack our 
principal men both in his public discourses and in 
written essays ;~and let him establish some congre- 
gationsof his own way of thinking: — How are we 
to reach his case? what are we lo do with him? Is 
there not a power beyond any particular church, to 
which he is amenable?" 

This we say, is a strong case— as strong a one 
perhaps as can happen in a century of yenrs. It is 
notonlyastiongcasc, butis what we might justly 
call a hard case. But it can be disposed of without 
a general council of all the churches. If it cannot, 
I am certain it would be made worse by such a coun- 
cil. But we will suppose such a council, made up 
of all the delegated bishops in the United States. 
This our first ecumenical council convenes at Cincin- 
nati O., and some distinguished bishop is called to 
the chair. But having heard of the council and its 
object, the reputed heretic and his friends (among 
whom are several bishops v>^ho are entitled to a seat 
and vote in the council) make their appearance be- 
fore it. The ca^c is opened. The charges arc pre- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH^ 97 

ferred. The accused begs to make his defence. 
He is a man of various learning and thundering el- 
oquence. He understands the human heart and the 
avenues leading thither. He makes it seem that he 
is persecuted; and men begin to sympathise with 
him who had never sympathised before. His friends 
in the council are encouraged. But the man speaks 
too long and too much. The presiding bishop or- 
ders him down or calls him to order. He submits for 
the time, but is out again after the next speech. 
So the affair proceeds for days. He loses some 
friends but gains others. " We take the Bible for 
our guide," cries some zealous bishop. "So do I," 
retorts the heretic. Another shouts, "We take the 
Bible as we understand it:" — "just so,"' returns the 
ready wit of the man at the bar, " and so do I." 
" And he has as good right,'' exclaimed one of his 
friends, "to his understanding of the Bible, as you 
have to yours,'' But the majority decreed that the 
man was wrong — the very thing they had done be- 
fore they left home; and the minority returned from 
the council with this advantage, that their opinions 
had become more conspicuous and attracted thence- 
forward a greater share of public notice. But it 
mu^t be remarked that the council had this effect, 
it drew the lines of separation between the two par- 
ties more legibly; but whether that were a real ad- 
vantage to the general cause of religion, must be 
determined by those who have understanding in 
such matters. 

By this time I fancy the reader to ask me, " How 
would you dispose of such a case?" To which I 
7 



98 THE NEW LIGHT* 

respond, I would dispose of it as Jesus told bis disci- 
ples to dispose of a similar one: " Let them alone; 
they be blind leaders of the blind. And if tbe 
blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.'^a 
After we have marked them that cause divisions aad 
offences; after we have exposed their errars and la- 
bored to reclaim them; after having used all tbe 
means of persuasion, entreatj, and argument; there 
remains nothing more that we can do, if the church 
to which such a person may belong refuses to ex- 
clude him from her communion. If she acts un- 
worthily in the case, other churches cannot exclude 
her from the general body, nor can they coerce her 
into measures. If she becomes in the judgment of 
God unworthy of his name, to use a Scripture figure, 
he will spue her out of his mouth without the inter- 
ference of other congregations! When a case, like 
the above, becomes unmanageable, we must cease 
trying to manage it, and let it go its own way. 

In the purest days of the church there have al- 
ways been evil persons in it, there have been tares 
among the wheat: and there are instances where it 
is impossible, for ws, to make the separation. la 
such cases we must "let both grow together until 
the harvest," when the Lord of , the harvest will 
complete what we could not do. Such is the nature 
of man, such the nature of truth, and such the na- 
ture of that dispensation under which we arc placed, 
that the operation of all together, in this world, is 
not a thoroughly perfect operation — imperfection 
cleaves to all we do. And touching the powers of 
christian congregations^ if cases arise (and many 
aMatt. X¥. 13, 



ox THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 99 

such must rise) which any one church cannot settle 
within its own body, they must remain unsettled till 
the Master of congregations shall appear to adjust 
all things. This is the way to endure the least 
evil, and to secure the greatest good, that attaches 
(and evil under any circumstance attaches) to our 
mortal condition. 



CHVPTER IX. 

Independence of the First Churches continued — The Church ad- 
mitted to be co-operative in one sense — Modern Co-operations 
forbidden by 2 Cor. viii,'& ix. — These passages carefully con- 
sidered — Conflagration of Pittsburg an illustration — Inquiry in- 
to the powers beyond several modern Sects, Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians and Methodists — The use of Church History in 
Relation to Ourselves — Deductions, Illustrations, and Conclu- 
sion. 

It was evidently the intention of the Founder of 
the Christian Church, so to construct her polity and 
frame-work in reference to the family of man, as 
that she might do the greatest good to the greatest 
number. This is admitted by all friends of the 
church; but there exist some diversities of opinion 
relative to the best modes of evangelising the world. 
In the two preceding chaplers we have attempted 
to illustrate the evils of the federative plan, and 
more than once asserted that it does not appear in 



lOO THE NEW LIGHT. 

either the precepts or examples of the apostles and 
primitive saints. We considered in detail the fif- 
teenth chapter of Acts, and found that it contains 
no warrant for co-operation or appeals as those 
words are now understood and applied. In the 
same spirit of candor let us examine the remaining 
scriptures which have heen thought favorable to 
church federation. 

We admit with pleasure (for it is true and undeni- 
able) that by union, concert^ and co-operation, men 
can do much more than can be done singly by indi- 
viduals, whether the object be war, 'commerce, or 
internal improvements. When the nature of the 
enterprise requires th^ application of force to an 
assigned point, the confederation of states, the union 
of legislative councils, or the application of consoli- 
dated power, may be essential to the object. A 
man from a family, a hundred men from a county, 
and ten thousand from a State, may become terri- 
ble in war shaking empires to their bases: but there 
are others and more useful labors which men can 
do only alone or individually, labors on which, after 
all, the very foundations of society rest, and without 
which the human family would be a frightful wilder- 
ness of men and women. The arts of husbandy, 
the social and domestic virtues, and the science of 
civil and religious life, in all their details, belong to 
the individual man and form the wealth and worth 
of a nation. But it is true also, that men may to 
some extent, unite in federations, leagues, or co- 
operations with others, without giving up or forego- 
ing their individual rights or enjoyments, relations or 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 101 

liberties. These admissions we make without reluc- 
tance ; for we believe that no one truth, however re- 
mote it may seem from the great family of truths, 
can come in collision with or oppose another. 

We admit furthermore, that the church, made up 
of individuals by conversion, is, in the most legiti- 
mate sense, a co-operative institution: for the sever- 
al members going to make up any one congregation, 
give themselves to the Lord and to one another bj 
the will of God, to labor together for the good of 
mankind. It is not co-operation, therefore, you per- 
ceive, which we oppose, but a mode of co-operation 
beyond the legitimate sphere. The manner or 
mode of doing things, is almost every thing in this 
curious and distracted world of ours. Individuals 
co-operate in forming a church, and then continue to 
co-operate in sustaining it in the world. If every 
church would persevere in acting thus, according to 
the obligations resting on each individual, that would 
be all the co-operation required: and thus, each 
church laboring in its own neighborhood, would 
push on its own column, and do vastly more good 
than can be done by such co-operations as we op- 
pose. Its aggressive force would thus be felt in 
thousands of places at the same time, each one ac- 
ting as if there was no other church in all the world 
besides itself. And this is just the way all churches 
should act: for the moment they begin to depend on 
one another to raise funds or to do any other essen- 
tial service, that moment begin to be manifested ap- 
athy, lukewarmness, covetousness. 

But now to approach the subject of this chapter 



102 THE NEW LIGHT. 

an objector asks, " Did not the church of Corinth 
co-operate in a formal confederacy with other 
churches for the purpose of raising means to assist 
the poor saints at Jerusalem? Is not such co-opera- 
tion manifest from 2 Cor. viii & ix. ?" 

As these are the passages most relied on to prove • 
the necessity of co-operation in preaching the gos- 
pel, we will carefully consider their import. 

Paul informs us in his Epistles to the Romans, « 
that he had projected a journey into Spain, and that 
after the accomplishment of a journey to Jerusalem^ 
he would take Rome in his way into that peninsula. 
He then explains the nature of his mission into Ju- 
dea, "It hath pleased them of Macedonia and 
Achaia,"says he, by which he means Thessalonia^ 
Philippi, &c. with ('orinth and perhaps other Achaian 
congregations, "to make a certain contribution for the 
poor saints who are at Jerusalem When there- 
fore I have performed this, and have sealed to them 
this first, I will come by you into Spain." A par- 
ticular account of the origin or immediate cause of 
this contribution, is not given. The churches of 
Macedonia and Achaia had doubtless heard of the 
deep poverty of the saints at Jerusalem: this infor- 
mation was most likely communicated by itinerant 
teachers, and these may have suggested the proprie- 
ty of sending to their relief; or, the benevolence of 
the brethren may have spoken out by spontaneity a 
determination to grant relief. At all events the sub- 
ject of contribution was agitated among them and 
nobly adopted; persons were appointed as special 
apostles to carry it to Jerusalem, and the saints there 
a Rom. XT. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 103 

no douht received it with much thanksgiving. Such 
is a general view of the whole case. 

Now the question is, in all this how far and in 
what did the churches of Macedonia and Achaia 
co-operate? Was there any thing like such a co- 
operation as we now witness for preaching purposes? 
It cannot be pretended. We may gain all the par- 
ticulars of the case from 2 Cor. viii and ix. In the 
first place Paul informs the Corinthians concerning 
the gracr3 of God bestowed on the churches of Ma- 
cedonia, in reference to the poor saints at Jerusalem: 
^'For to their power/' says he, '^I bear record, yea, 
and beyond their power, they were willing of them- 
selves^''^ to make their gifts. As far, then, as Mace- 
donia was concerned, no one had labored to get up 
a co-operation: it was a Qoble gush of benevolent 
feeling — and "they prayed us,^' says Paul, "with 
much entreaty that we would receive the gift and 
take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the 
saints" at Jerusalem. Had there been not another 
church in all Greece, the Macedonians would have 
done just as they did. They adopted no concert or 
co-operation in view of the amount to be raised — 
they "were ready of themselves'^ to do a delightful 
duty, and entreated Paul to become their treasurer 
in the case. 

The next item worthy of notice, is, that Titus had 
begun to agitate the same affair at Corinth, and 
knowing this, Paul exhorted him to go on and "fin- 
ish in them the same grace also;" (viii. 6.) and wri- 
ting to the Corinthians at the same time, he exhorts 
them not to be behind those of Macedonia in so 



104 THE NEW LIGBT. 

good a work. Paul, however, acknowledges that 
he had no divine ^^commandment" to urge in the 
case — for the taking care of the poor among them- 
selves was all that God required — but still, if in this 
instance, like those of Macedonia, they would do 
more than was required, that fact would only sa 
much the more "prove the sincerity of their love.'^ 
(Verse 8.) The contributions therefore here made by 
the Corinthians do not become a precedent to us, 
unless like them we are inclined to do more than is 
commanded for the relief of the distant poor. The 
apostle simply advises his brethren to finish their no- 
ble benefaction, not that it was laid on them as a 
divine obligation, but as a fruit of christian love 
which sometimes rises up and overflows the bounds 
of obligation. In this case he gave his advice, as 
he had done in relation to marriage before, b not by 
commandment, but simply to be faithful and not 
cast a snare upon them. 

Finally, Paul seems to have sent Titus and anoth- 
er good brother who had been chosen of the church- 
es to bear their gifts, to Corinth, that they might 
"make up beforehand their bounty," and have all 
things ready for starting to Jerusalem, so that " by 
the experiment of this ministration" God might be 
honored, the poor saints at Jerusalena comforted^ 
(ix. j9a552m,) and themselves declared as having no- 
ble and ready minds. — Such, I believe, are the facts 
in the case. Well, did it require co-operation with 
other churches for one church to be ready of itself 
to do a piece of work? When Titus was at Corinth, 
urging that church to help the popr saints,^ <Ji4 Cqit- 
b 1 Cor. vii. 



*0N THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 105 

inth co-operate 'with other churches? And when all 
the churches in Macedonia and Achaia became 
ready with their gifts, sent men to carry them, and 
these men all met together and went on in company 
to Jerusalem, was this co-operation, confederation? 
If one church followed the liberal example of anoth- 
er in a matter for which the apostle had no com- 
mandment, was this co-operation? and is such an 
^experiment" in relation to the distant poor to be- 
come a precedent for raising money to pay preach- 
ers? Not at all, I should think. If fifty churches 
should all have a mind at the same time to do a good 
thing, I do not perceive any federation in the affair: 
and this was precisely the case with the churches of 
Macedonia and Achaia. 

During last year an event happened and facts 
grew out of it which very fairly express our views of 
the manner in which Macedonia and Achaia minis- 
tered to the saints at Jerusalem. The city of Pitts- 
burg was wrapped in flames, and many of the best 
parts of it were reduced to ashes. Hundreds of 
families were spoiled of house and home. Many 
wandered in the streets with nothing to subsist on^ 
or to clothe them from the peltings of the storm. It 
was a fearful catastrophe! But swiftly as on the 
wings of that wind which had urged the devouring 
flame, the news was carried through the country. 
Within a few days the most distant cities had heard 
of the ruin of Pittsburg. And where was benevo- 
lence? Did she slumber when she heard the roar of 
that devouring fire? No! Almost every principal 
city in the Union heard the voice of mercy.. Phila- 



106 THE NEW LIGHT. 

delphia, New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Louisville, 
&c. &c. called meetings, raised means, sent messen- 
gers, and but a few weeks had elapsed before thou- 
sands and tens of thousands of dollars were poured 
in for the relief of the sufferers! Cincinnati, I bear 
her record, was ready of herself, and her zeal pro- 
voked very many. Boats were loaded with produce 
and clothing, and purses were filled with money. 
Glorious proof that man is not totally depraved! 

But where was the co-operation between Cincin- 
nati and New York, Philadelphia and Louisville? 
There was just as much as there was between or 
among the churches of Macedonia and Ach^ia in 
reference to Jerusalem. There was no federation 
in either case — it was a gush of generous feeling 
happening simultaneously in several communities 
in behalf of sufferers; and this is all that can be 
made of it. 

I have not taken into the above investigation 
ICor. xvi. 1 — 3. which contains the original advice 
of Paul in the case, with a detail of the manner of 
raising the necessary means. That passage shows 
also that "the churches of Galatia^' had been 
solicited to contribute something to the relief of 
the sufferers at Jerusalem. The contributions were 
ordered to be made on the first day of the week and 
put into the treasury of the congregation. ''And 
when I come,'^ says Paul, '' whomsoeverye shall ap- 
prove by letters, them will I send to bring your lib- 
erality to Jerusalem.^' — If this case can be made to 
favor the recent schemes of confederation and co- 
operation, a Presbyterian need not fear for the 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHITRCH. 107 

cause of infant baptism, nor a Romanist for that of 
Purgatory, indulgences and transubstantiation. Let 
the reader remember that we say these things for 
the truth's sake and with an eye to the best means 
of evangelising the world. In all those places 
where the co-operative system is broached, let the 
brethren ask the movers of the measure for Scrip- 
ture authority in the premises. Every such mover 
should be required to produce chapter and verse, the 
case and its details. If this cannot be done, (and it 
cannot,) then let the whole scheme fall as another of 
the human expedients having no more authority than 
the far-famed mourning-bench, or than the synods 
of sectarian Christendom. 



Having now disposed of this subject, and, in do- 
ing so, having shown the evils of the federative 
principle, or that upon this principle was engrafted 
the revolting and enormous body of Catholic op- 
pression; it is natural that we conclude by making 
some farther observations on a power which ha« 
been supposed to reside beyond individual congre- 
gations. Our minds at once begin to search for this 
power, for its form, for its mode of operation. 

Almost every religious sect that has risen to any 
considerable numerical eminence, has felt the ne- 
cessity of a power beyond that of any of its congre- 
gational parts. Indeed, a sect must necessarily feel 
this necessity; and hence all sects have created such 
a power in the progress of their histories. Among 
English Episcopalians the powers beyond the parish 
churches became incarnate in divers persons and 



lOS THE NEW LIGHT. 

institutions, distributing themselves into bishops^ 
archbishops, and kings or even queens. In a word^ 
the power above and beyond the church, in Eng- 
land, is the State which is able to fix uniformity in 
religion, to regulate the law of tithes, to maintain 
the privileged orders at the expense of the peasant- 
ry, and by a system as iniquitous as it is complica- 
ted, to grind the faces of the poor and make a nation 
of slaves. Henry VIIL became the head of the 
Anglican church, and Victoria herself is now " de- 
fender of the faith. '^ But the progress of popular 
feeling, the force of public opinion, have made acts 
of toleration necessary to the permanence of the 
government, else the popular fury, long ere this, had 
biirsted the power beyond into a tl:^usand frag- 
ments. 

The Presbyterians, too, growing to be a formida- 
ble party, felt that they must create a power be- 
yond the isolated congregation: hence they erected 
the Presbytery and the General Assembly. In these 
bodies great or general questions are discu&sed and 
grave matters decided. Questions involving the in- 
terests of the general body are investigated and set- 
tled, that is, sometimes settled, in the general As- 
sembly. This tribunal serves for the detection of 
heresy; for it watches over the fortunes of the Pres- 
byterian church, and guards it from the aggression 
of all who would oppose " the venerable standards," 
the Creed and Catichisms. Thus the power beyond 
will keep the Presbyterian church in error, being in 
error itself, till the very last times. 

And what shall we say of the Methodist Episco- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 109 

pal church South^ JVorth^ North-East^ South-West^ or 
whatever point of the compass it may select for its 
name? It. too, has a power beyond in the form of 
a general Conference; and so effectual is this pow- 
er that it can put up or put down a preacher, make 
or unmake at pleasure. Hence the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church cannot have for a considerable time 
a minister that is not a true son of the church. A 
general discipline is exercised by the Conference 
over the v/hole body. The class-leader is the eye 
of the Elder; the Elder is the eye of the Presiding 
Elder; and the Presiding Elder is the eye of the 
Bishop. The Bishop, the executive of the Confer- 
ence, assigns to all the itinerant elders their places, 
when the conference is of a local nature; but when 
a conference of conferences comes on, that is, a 
general conference, matters of a general nature 
form the topics of deliberation. Thus the whole 
sect is hooped and bound together as by bands of 
iron and brass — bands that cannot be broken by 
an ordinary preacher or author. The power be- 
yond, however, has several times been attacked by 
leagues of powerful children, and Radicals, Wesley- 
ans, True Wesleyans, &c. &c. stand at present as so 
many proofs that even brass and iron may be bro- 
ken. And very recently a power beyond even the 
power beyond, a power beyond the beyond, had 
well-nigh crushed the beyond power: for the simple 
question of Abolitionism divided the church into two 
sections, and gave to each section a name as dark 
as the sootiest son of Africa — so that we have the 
Methodist Episcopal church A^urth in the Southy and 



110 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the Methodist Episcopal church South in the JVorthl 
According to the same rule why may we not have 
after a while the Methodist Episcopal church South 
Jiiy degrees East ? 8^c. 

We have pursued this subject sufficiently far for 
the present. We have seen that every Sect in Chris- 
tendom has sought and is seeking a power above that 
of its congregated parts — that most sects have found 
such a power either in one man or in a general 
Council called by that name or some other — that 
these Sects on this account must be antagonisms du- 
ring the whole history of their continuance — that 
the CO operations and confederacies of churches 
heretofore formed, have resulted injuriously to the 
freedom of speech and of opinion, and must, from 
the nature of the case, always so operate by taking 
the power from the many and giving it to the few — 
that, finally, the history of as many such federations 
as have fallen under our notice, teaches us the utter 
vanity, not to say iniquity, of any attempt to consol- 
idate power for the purpose of a general denomina- 
tional government. If the general laws of the spir- 
itual empire, and public opinion arising from these 
laws, fail to put forth a sufficiently corrective power, 
Councils, Synods, Associations, Conferences, &;c. 
cannot remedy the evil. We should commit the 
Christian Church to the General Government of the 
Master of Nations, who will interpose his Provi- 
dence for her welfare, while in our several congre- 
gations we should look after personal holines and a 
wholesome discipline: and if cases occur which we 
cannot settle, they must remain unsettled to the day 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Ill 

of Judgment. The attempts at settling cases by 
Synods, Councils, Conferences, or any other modes 
or forms of power beyond congregational action^ 
has been the most prolific source of sectarianism 
that the page of history records. The church is the 
private property of no man, however instrumental 
any may have been in pleading her cause, in aug- 
menting her number?, or in illustrating her doctrine 
and institutions. 

I cannot suppose for a moment that the history of 
the church, has been written and read in vain, or 
that we are to derive no warnings and instructions 
from it. If we have been so happy, in the nine- 
teenth century, as to restore or to receive restored 
nearly the primitive order of things, let us maintain 
that order against any species of power that may 
arise to subvert the original independence of the 
churches. Beware of any institution that aims, 
directly or indirectly, at the consolidation of power^ 
for, in the inevitable progress of its development, the 
strong will become stronger still, and the weak more 
feeble and less able to make successful resistance^ 

Upon the whole, the portrait of the original Chris- 
tian Church which we have now endeavored to give^ 
presents to our mind the features of a society as per- 
fect as the frail and mortal condition of man can 
receive. The most knowing man knows only in 
part; even inspired prophets prophesied in part;; 
faith is too much mixed with unbelief, and sluggish- 
ness with devotion; but, in mercy towards our na- 
ture of dust the Lord accepts us as righteous upon 
the faith we have if we sincerely obey him so far 



113 THE NEW LIGHT. 

as we can out of a principle of love. A more per- 
fect order of things is coming, when all the right-* 
eous shall be received into the everlasting mansions 
of glory and felicity. Had the church been so or- 
ganized by her Head that she could not apostatize^ 
she could not receive any reward for virtue; or had 
she been so fixed that the fatality of sinning was 
unavertable^ apostacy had been a virtue rather than 
a crime. In the true point of probation, however, 
she was placed, so that all we call watchfulness and 
fidelity become as necessary on her part, as either 
the grace or the Providence of God, in order to her 
honorable existence in, and her effective march 
through, the annals of time. 

In the great fabric of the material universe if one 
object appears more glorious, more luminous, or 
more useful than another, that object is the sun, the 
centre of a whole family of worlds. The waves 
of light pass out from him, with the speed of thought, 
into distances of space which perplex and entangle 
the most adventurous thought. A universal Jaw 
binds his family to him, and systems cf orbs are 
whirled in lines of gentle curvature till in their in- 
fallible flight they trace and re-trace the same blank 
regions; while not a discord is heard, not a rebel- 
lious atom rises up against the general law. The 
faces of the planets, primary and secondary, become 
glowing and as it were redolent from the touches 
and kisses of his heavenly light. The disc of the 
moon, (the elFect of her proximity to the earth,) ap- 
pears in large cloudy glory; the light of the sun is 
reflected from her, and the mantle of night is decked 



t)N fjm cimiSTiAN CiiuRCS. lis 

With the softened radiance^ Beyond her '' resplend- 
ent globe and starry pole," other planets at im* 
mense distance twhlkle the difFGsed glory of the 
sun. Their rays tell of him in depths and region's 
still beyond, and it may be that even his reflected 
rays pass the frontiers of their o^^vn system, and min- 
gle with those of other suns and systems that light 
the footseps of the Eternal in other tracts of infi- 
nite space. '"^ 

Jesgs, the Lord of gtery, is the Sun of Right- 
\2usness, being to the moral universe what the sun is 
to the physical. The law of his Empire is the law 
of love, which is to the kingdom of God what gravi- 
tation is to the material isniverse. The church, 
like the i^oon and planets, receives and reflects a 
borrowed light. She ship.es in the radiance of her 
Lord. The softened radiance of the divine light i^ 
reflected upon the family of man", till myriads of 
them that lived in darkness become the candles of 
the Lord, c by and from whom again other candles 
are lighted, till the earth is made to glow in the im- 
age of the Sun of Righteousness and Peace. To 
the light therefore which we have received from 
him we ''do well that we take heed, as unto a light 
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawr4 
and the Day-Star arise in our hearts." (i 
c Pi-ov. XX, 27. d 2 Pet. i. 19- 



CHAPTER X. 

Bapfism introduced — Its Action" Argued— Design of Skjifism' 
proved by various Evidence— Teaching of the Apostles— Faitb 
of Primitive Christians — Repentance defined and Illustrated— 
Order of Baptism in the Commission of the Apostles — King- 
dom of Heaven and the Day of Pentecost— Meaning of '*Fo?' 
the Remission of Sins" — Baptism of Saul of Tarsus— -Argu-^ 
ments from Allusions to Baptism as to its Design— Recapitula-' 
tion-^Conclusion. 

In okbur that we may have a jet more full and 
comprehensive view of the Christian Church, it may 
be necessary in this place to illustrate and enforce 
that ordinance by vrhich, in the beginning, men be- 
came members of that divine community. That 
ordinance was baptism: to the powers, uses, con- 
nexions, and importance of which we now solicit 
the unprejudiced attention of the reader, in two 
distinct sections. 

§ I. BAPTISi>I m THE DAYS AND BY THE AUTHOR- 
ITY OF Christ and his apostles, was an im3iersion 
IN water of them that believed. — The proofs of 
this proposition have been already adduced, in part, 
in a previous chapter of this work^ but we rcw^erved 
the full confirmation for this place. Knowing (hat 
many professed Christians utterly reject the original 
baptism appointed by Christ, and have substituted 
in its place an unmeaning tradition of uninspired 
men, to which they have given the name of baptism 
— a name wholly unfit and preposterous— it becomes 
necessary for us to set forth the truth of the whole 
matter, so that the lovers of truth may be edified^ 
J4nd the mouths of gainsay ers stopped. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 115 

That the baptism described ia the New Testa- 
ment, whether that of John, of Jesus or of the Apos- 
tles, was an immersion of the whole person in water, 
may be argued from the meaning of the terms used. 
We take up the common English Bible, leaving out 
of this investigation all appeals to the learned lan- 
guages, (but our cause must ever gain by such ap- 
peals,) and shall Use the words as they occur in the 
meaning they must possess in order to make good 
sense: and we shall see that the idea of immersion 
is inseparable from baptism. 

The New Testament is no sooner opened, than 
we are made acquainted with a man, the son of 
Zacharias, who derives his name from the nature of 
his work and office; John the Baptist. Mark, it is 
not John Baptist, as though Baptist were his sur- 
name; but John the baptist^ his title of office, pre- 
cisely the same as if he had been called in plain Eng- 
lish John the baplizer\ for baptizing was his business, 
the great mission he was sent to fulfil. Well, bap- 
tism which he constantly performed, was a work 
done, an effect completed towards or upon all those 
persons who put themselves into 'his hands or under 
his administration. That effect was either the wet- 
ting or moistening their faces by sprinkling, or the 
burial of their persons in water. If the effect pro- 
duced was moistenings then baptism was sprinkling, 
and the person baptized or moistened^ should have 
been described as sprinkled, not baptized. And as 
John produced this effect upon all who obeyed his 
institution, namely, he dismissed them as sprinkled^ 
had that been the mode and nature of his work, he 



116 THE NEW LIGHTa 

would have been known in Scripture as John the 
Rantizer, and not John the Baptist — John the 
Sprinkler, not John the Immerser. 

Let us now contemplate a few passages under 
this view. "* In those days canr)e John the Sprinkler^ 
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand^^'* 
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, 
and all the region round about the Jordan, and 
were sprinkled of him,m the Jordan^ confessing their 
sins! But when he saw many of the Phariseee and 
Saducees come to his sprinklings he said unto them, 
O generation of vipers," &:c. " I indeed sprinkle 
you in water unto repentance; but he that conieth 
after me is mightier than I:^^'^ he shall sprinkle 
you in the Holy Ghost and fire! "^"^"^ Then cometh 
Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be sprin- 
kled of him: but John forbade him, saying, I have 
need to be sprinkled of thee, and comest thou to me? 
*** And Jesus, when he was sprinkled^ went up 
straightway out of the water,^' &c!a It does not 
seem likely that the people went to the Jordan to 
be sprinkled 11^ TUB river, or that Jesus WE^T up 
OUT OF THE WATER if he had not been in it before 
he went out. Nor is it likely that he would have 
gone iiilo it merely for the purpose of being sprink- 
led. John the Sprinkler would not have gone into 
the Jordan to moisten the faces of men and women: 
nor would they have submitted, had sprinkling h^o^n 
all that was required. But Jordan is nearly dried 
up in our times; for a quart pitcher, or even a pint 
tumbler, now holds enough water to moisten the tin- 
a Matt. ill. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 117 

gers of many devout clergymen; and these baptized 
fingers are imposed upon the forehead or eyebrows 
of infants or "adults," so that the laying on of a 
damp finger is now the pretty general mode of 
sprinkling! What other modes of sprinkling may 
hereafter be adopted by a proud and fastidious Chris- 
tendom, our own age prolific of every species of in- 
vention, may determine. 

Again. Jesus demanded of the sons of Zebedee — 
"Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink 
of, and to be sprinkled with ihe sprinkling that I am 
sprinkled with}''^ b It is manifest that our Lord in 
this place alludes to the suflferings which he was 
about to endure for the redemption of the world, 
under the symbol or figure of a baptism, an over- 
whelming. Baptism with which ail the disciples 
were familiar, is the basis of the idea, and hence the 
argument runs thus: as men in baptism are over- 
whelmed in water, so shall Jesus be overwhelmed in 
agonies in order to redeem mankind. The same is 
taught in another place; c but if baptism were per- 
formed by sprinkling in the days of Jesus, he would 
have said, "I have r sprinkling to be sprinkled with, 
and how am I straitened till it be accomplished'." 
The whole christian world, so far as I am advised, 
believe that Jesus sufiered unspeakably great and 
heavy and deep agor^ies and afflictions — so much so, 
that in the moment of his heavy woes, "there was 
seen an angel of God strengthening him." All this 
mighty and keen and most bitter anguish, he calls a 
baptism, the very thought of the coming of which 
sorely afflicted or "straitened" his spirit before the 
b Mat. XX. 22. c Luke xii. 50. 



118 THE NEW LIGHT, 

gloomy hour arrived. But had baptism consisted of 
a sprinkling of water^ the suiBTerings of Jesus would 
not have been si)oken of as a baptism^ — for when 
Jesus was baptised in sufFeringSj his baptism was a 
fearful and tremendous immersion, an overwhelming 
of his holy soul and body in unutterable woes! 
You who maintain that baptism is sprinkling, go to 
the garden of Gethsemane, go to the cross of Jesus, 
and learn the confutation of your creed from the 
pains that redeemed the world, and no longer call 
those pains a mere sprinkling of grief ! Be care- 
ful how you insult the Lord of glory by the proud 
sophisty of the Roman Harlot, who has taken upon 
her the task of contradicting a thousand times what 
the Lord has said, and of changing the forms and 
names of his institutions. If the sufferings of the 
adorable Jesus were a baptism, then that which was 
practised and known in his day as water-baptism, 
was not performed by sprinkling. There is no way 
to avoid this conclusion, and we might here with 
confidence rest the argument; but we will carry it 
farther 

Again. " After these things came Jesus and his 
disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tar- 
ried w^iththem and sprinkled. Ahd John also was 
sprinkling in Enou near Salim, because there was 
Tnuch water there: and they came and were sprink- 
led!^'' d The reader will notice without an effort, 
that the reason assigned why John baptised at Enon 
was, "because there was much water there;" a rea- 
son that could not have been given had baptism at 
that time and by John been performed by sprinkling 
d John iii. 22—24. 



^X THE CHRISTIAN CIItTRCH. 119 

— -for every one knows that it does not require 
^ much water ^' for all the purposes of sprinkliug 
as now practised by Catholics^ Episcopalians, liU- 
therans, Presbyterians and Methodists. A half 
barrel of "holy water" would sprinkle all the Cath- 
olic children born in the United States during the 
present most fruitful year. As for the rest, Episco- 
palians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Mthodists, 
they do not all of them together, I should guess, 
4!onsume one hogshead per annum in the United 
States of America, for baptismal or rather rantis- 
mal purposes. A teacup full answers for a whole 
protracted meeting! Nor do we ever hear of any 
of these sects choosing locations for their meetings 
because there is much water near those places. 
Should accident throw them upon the bank of a 
oreek or river, Che quantity of water for baptismal 
purposes has nothing to do w^ith the arrangement. 
They are very unlike the Baptist in this particular. 
It is amusing, and would be laughable were the 
subject other than solemn, to see how Presbyterians 
and others deal with John's reason for selecting 
Enon for a baptising station. That he baptised in 
Enon near Salim " because there was much water 
ihere,'^ is a fact so clearly stated in our translation 
that there is no denying it: but as it does not require 
" much w^ater " for sprinkling purposes, learning has 
been commanded to look into the original Greek of 
this passage to see if it cannot be made out that 
^' much water" signifies only a little water! If this 
can be done, then the place w411 read, "And John 
also was eprinkliiig in Enon near Salim because 



130 THE NEW HGKT^ 

there was but little water there!" which woii-Id sait 
the whole science of sprinkling admirably! Un- 
fortunately, however, the very most that can be 
done with the phrase "mu<ch water," is, it may sig- 
nify " many waters" which is a form of expression^ 
too strong; for'surely it would not require ''many 
waters'^ to sprinkle the people if John used nc 
more than our water-dreading establishments. But 
Enon, according to the most accredited antiquarian 
researches, with Bethabara., was a ford or ferry of 
the Jordan; so that the "many waters'^ of the 
place turn aut to be thc^se of the Jordan, in whose 
downward current the hair»covered and leather-girt 
Baptist buried the people of Israel. 

Not satisfied with the translation "many waters" 
in lieu of "much water," others have been hugely 
puzzled to determine v;hy John was influenced by 
the amount of water in selecting Enon near Salim,. 
or a special and favorite crossing of the Jordan, in* 
order to baptise the house of Israel. "Because 
there was much water," or "many waters there," 
has sorely perplexed all advocates of sprinklings 
Every effort has been made to elude its force. It 
will not do to make the place figurative so that " ma- 
ny waters," may signify, as in some places, many 
thousands of people. It will not do to make those 
" many waters," mean innumerable Mttle springs and 
lills bursting up in different but contiguous places in 
the interior of Judea, as the geography of the coun- 
try might confront thehypothc'sis; and reason would 
say, at the same time, that one such rill would do as 
well for rantismal purposes as all the " many watexs^'^ 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 121 

To the question, therefore, why did John baptise in 
JEnon near Salim, the response must still be given^ 
'^ because i here was rnuch water there! '^ Sprinkling 
requres but little water: baptism, according to the 
Scrptures, requires " much water." Such is the dif- 
ference» 

Nevertheless, not w^illing to give the matter up — 
not willing to admit the presence of " much water '^ 
as necessary to the ordinance of baptism; a very 
grave Presbyterian some years ago produced a book 
on baptism, and inflicted on the public the trouble of 
reading it, and on himself the merited name of aa 
untraetable sophist. And in what way was it, think 
you, this writer whose name we have forgotten, en- 
deavors to separate the "much water" near Salim 
from John's design in baptising there? We venture 
to say our readers could never guess! None but an 
adventurous knight of the order of sprinklers, hard 
pressed and in frightful emergency, would ever 
have imagined for John the Baptist so unique and 
at the same time so satisfactory a reason for the se- 
lection of Enon! John is benevolent. He has an 
eye to the accommodation of the immense multi- 
tudes which must throng upon him. Nor is the son 
of Zacharias without judgment. He reflected that 
camels are animals which require abundance of 
water; that asses, horses, and bullocks, of which 
there would be iijmense numbers on the ground 
from all parts of Judea, would require to be led 
away to watering two or three times a-day. It re- 
quired ''much water'^ for these camels and asses to 
drink! It was not necessary for the apostle to meu- 



123 THE NEW LIGHT. 

tion hay, oats, barley, &c, as abounding in that re- 
gion, but simply and only water as a generic terni 
connprehending all the camels and asses needed. 
Sp John reasoned, and so he acted, if we may be- 
lieve one whom popish traditions had robbed of a 
precious article which we sometimes call common 
sense. The whole affair then stands thus, and we 
publish it as the very best way that Pedo-Baptists 
have of getting round the place in question — "And 
John was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because 
there was much water there " for the camels and 
asses of the multitudes to drink! We have heard of 
^straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel,' but this 
is the first almost literal instance that has come under 
our notice. We have heard, too, of the followers of a 
camel, and of camelites, but here we have them fair- 
ly defined. The author of the above-mentioned 
book was certainly a Camelite, for he could not 
make an argument against immersion without the 
aid of camels though there is not one mentioned in 
all that part of the apostle's testimony. 

Further. " Know ye not, that so many of us as 
were sprinkled info Jesus Christ, were sprinkled into 
his death? Therefore we are buried with him by 
sprinkling into his death. ^' e " Buried with him in 
sprinklings wherein also ye are risen with him 
through the faith of the operation of God who hath 
raised him from the dead.*^ f The reader perceives 
at once that Paul could not have alluded to baptism 
under the idea of sprinkling in the above passages. 
Whatever else the first christians may have done or 
received, that they were buried in the water when 
eRom. vi. 3, 4. fCol. ii, 12. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 123 

they were baptised, is therefore beyond all ques- 
tion or dispute. The persons baptised are described 
as having gone down into the water, as coming up 
out of it; as being washed and buried in it — and not 
one of these strong expressions gives the idea of 
sprinkling or pouring. Those who sprinkle and 
call it baptism do not wash their children, much less 
their adult converts: they do not go down into the 
water: there is no such idea or representation in all 
that they call baptism as the burial of the person 
concerned. Sprinkling or pouring forever annihi* 
lates and destroys the radical and essential idea 
connected with or imparted by the term baptism^ 
and the reader will find whenever he may be dispos- 
ed to look, that whenever and wherever the terms 
sprinkle and pour are used throughout the Scriptures, 
they never once mean or imply the ordinance of 
Christian Baptism. Make the trial who may, he is 
bound to find the above views faithful and true to 
the Divine Testimonies. 

I might have made an argument for immersion and 
against sprinkling from the very terms baptism and 
io baptise-^ but as this work is intended especially 
for the general reader and not the scholar, for the 
man of common sense and common honesty, for the 
lover of truth rather than the lover of human tra- 
ditions and speculations, I preferred to give the 
whole argument in the style and manner of com" 
mon sense, penetrated as I am with the conviction 
that there is neither learned nor unlearned, scholar 
or sophist, who will be able to set aside the above 
\evy concise and scripture views. By way of con- 



124 THE NEW LIGHT. 

eluding this section, I will remark, that after we 
have searched dictionaries and the use of language 
till we are tired — (but in all this ample round we 
have nothing to fear for the cause of truth — ) there 
will remain one important argumeni in favor of im- 
mersion which is and ever must be irresistible, and 
that is the history of baptism. Trace it from the 
earliest times, through and among all the changes 
through which it has passed; find it in what zone of 
the earth you may; contemplate it under whatever 
design may have been or may be imputed to it; read 
it among the barbarians or the civilized, among 
slaves or free men; if you trace it backwards to- 
wards its origin, you will tind by the undivided tes- 
timony of all, that it was immersion, and as such 
was practised generally over the christian world for 
one thousand and three huddred years after it was 
instituted. The church of Rome, that mother of 
halots and abominations, changed baptism into 
sprinkling, and by the same authority took the 
wine from the laity in the Eucharist, pleading that 
she might do the last because she had done the first! 
making one act of corruption a pretext for anoth- 
er. — Go, then, you who contend for sprinkUng, you 
who are compassing land and sea to make prose- 
lytes — go to the church of Rome and confess your 
obligations to her. She gave you the sprinkling 
process, and to this day she claims you as her chil- 
dren. You must own the relation or throw aside 
the tradition. Which will you do? 

§ IJ. Baptism was preached and practised by 
THE Apostles s'OR the remission op sins, and it 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 125 

V/AS, IN ITS PLACE, NECESSARY TO SALVATION. Let 

not the reader be startled at the boldness and em- 
phasis of this proposition; or if startled, let him not 
condemn me unheard. Some, like the persecuting 
Jews, filled with prejudice, run their fingers into their 
ears upon the announcement of any thing which 
their preachers have not taught them. We would 
plead with such to hear us but a little while. Oth- 
ers as implicitly believe w^bat their preachers tell 
them as if God himself had spoken from heaven in 
their ears! These are the perfect dupes of priest- 
craft, and may be led to Rome, or Mecca, or Nau- 
voo, or Calafornia, or anywhere else except into the 
truth and common sense. Here, alas, the priest 
finds no interest in leading them! With such per- 
sons it is vain to argue. Wicked men and seducers 
have waxed worse and worse, deceiving and being 
deceived. The blind are leading the blind, and the 
yawning ditch is before them! If they will not be re- 
claimed, they must all be hurled in together! They 
all must be damned who believe not the truth, when 
it is fairly and faithfully presented, and take pleas- 
ure in unrighteousness, g- ''These speak evil of 
those things which they know not: but what they 
know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they 
corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have 
gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the 
error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the 
gainsaying of Korah!"A By a system of most un- 
yielding covetousness, the leaders make merchan- 
dise of their silly flocks which yield their annual 
fleece so that wolves may appear in sheep's cloth- 

g2 Thess. ii. ll hJudc 10, 11. 



136 THE NEW LK^IIT. 

ing. How sillj those sheep must be when they can 
see neither feet, tail, nor nose of these voracious 
prowlers! 

But let us proceed. — -Whether Baptism Was ap- 
pointed by the Son of God, delivered to the apos- 
ties, and by them preached first to the Jews and af- 
terwards to the Gentiles, admits not of a doubt in 
all the Christian World, if we may except perhaps 
the Friends or Quakers, who, however, do not ap- 
pear to hold any visible title to the name of chris- 
tians. There is scarcely a divine ordinance recog- 
nized among them. A fanciful inward light, in- 
ward singing, inward eating of the Lord's Supper^ 
and inward everything excepting meeting twice 
u-week, saying /Aeej and wearing apparel of a sin- 
gular shape^ distinguish them from others. Some 
peculiarities concerning church government and 
marriage, concerning oaths and military duty, make 
up also a part of their denominational bearing. 
They are, upon the whole, generally a moral and 
industrious people, peaceable, and as honest as, but 
not more so than, their neighbors. They have 
preaching, too, but it is all inward^ that is, the views 
advanced are mostly o\d of^ that is to say, not in the 
Bible. They have little to do with what they call 
o?//i^c/r6^ ordinances:— they have no use whatever 
for baptism, and I presume they would turn their 
members out did any of them submi( to the ordi- 
nance. 

The whole christian world, therefore, we say, with 
the exception of the Quakers, admit that Christ in- 
stituted Baptism, and that his apostles preached it: 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* 127 

and even the Quakers admit that the apostles both 
preached and practised water baptism — ^but Peter, 
John, James, and the rest, not knowing so well the 
mind of God as George Fox did, are not to be fol- 
lowed in respect to baptism. The Quakers have 
discovered by a superior internal illumination that 
the Holy Ghost baptism is all that is now needed^ 
though there is not now, nor was there ever, one of 
their community who receives or has received that 
baptism. So the Quakers have no baptism of any 
kind! If some friend Quaker should read this, let 
him peruse also that part of this work, a few chap-^ 
ters back, where the baptism of the Spirit is defined, 
and he will see at once that no Quaker has ever had 
that spiritual baptism. 

Well, let me say a third time, no more to be in- 
terrupted by Quakerism, that the whole christian 
community believes that baptism was appointed by 
Jesus Christ and preached by the apostles. The 
authority relied on is the following, and it is perfect- 
ly satisfactory: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all na- 
tions, baptizing them into the nam.e of the Father 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you; andlo, I am with you alway unto the 
end of the word — He that believeih and is baptised, 
shall be saved- -That repentance and remission of 
sins should be preached in his name among all na- 
sions beginning at Jerusalem — Whose soever sins ye 
remit, they arc remitted unto them: whose soever 
sins ye retain, they are retained." i 

Let the reader now observe carefully, that the 
first passage in the above list, is our Lord's Commis- 

i Mr.tt. xiviii. 19»m MarkxYi. 16. L'uke xxiy.47. John.zx.^^. 



128 THE NEW LIGHT. 

sion to his apostles as given ty Matthew; the second 
is the sum of the Commission as given by Mark; 
the third is the same as recorded by Luke; and the 
fourth, still the very same as written by John the 
apostle. (&e notes below ^ pi^eceding page,) 

From this great Commission, as testified to by 
these four witnesses, the following points of doctrine 
are to be drawn, and in the following order: 

1. The teaching of the apostles precedes Or goes 
before all that may be supposed to proceed from it. 
They go out into all the world and preach the gos^ 
pel to every rational creature— to ail who have ca- 
pacity to listen to or understand it — to sinners among 
Jews and Gentiles — to ignorant peasants and wordy 
quibbling philosophers. The glorious gospel, madi3 
up of and predicated on the facts that Jesus the 
Son of God died for sinners an offering for their 
sins, was buried, Pvnd tha.t he rose again on the third 
day — that he ascended to heaven, was seated on the 
right hand of God, and will come again to judge 
mankind by raising up all the dead at his appearing 
and kingdom:- — this gospel or good news, we say, 
was preached only to that portion of the human 
race that could appreciate or understand it, and 
this part of the family of man is here styled ^' every 
creature:''' for it is absurd to suppose that the apos- 
tles preached these facts to infants that could know 
nothing of them, or to idiots who were equally inca- 
pable of understanding. This divine apostolic teach- 
ing, we say, was the first great matter, and, had out 
of the nature of the case, to form the first duty of 
the apostles. Their history shows that they faithful- 
ly performed it to the uttermost parts of the earths 



ON THE CIIUISTIAN CHURCH. 12& 

^. The next thing in the order of natare and 
of grace after the teaching of the apostles, was faith 
among the people; which faith arose out of the ev- 
idence furnished by the apostles that God had rais- 
ed up his Son from the dead and made him Savior of 
all them that believe. The evidence was so im- 
mense and overwhelming; so various and yet so 
plain and simple; so direct, yet so almost impercep- 
tibly captivating the head and the heart; that mul- 
titudes in every province were agitated by the heav- 
enly doctrine; idols fell from their niches in the 
pantheon, and demons ceased to be adored as dei- 
ties; prayer flew out from ten thousand hearts and 
in faith pulsated the very gates of heaven; for the 
thrilling question !J hat shall ice do to he saved? was 
heard like the murmur of a mighty storm as it trav- 
ersed the entire world. This was faith, the faith of 
the head and of the heart! It moved the whole 
man, for the heart lay bleeding under the wounds 
inflicted by the arrows of truth. The depths of the 
•spirit were stirred, and the outward man of flesh 
and bones often trembled for fear! This was faith 
the faith of the heart. Along with the knowledge 
of God, which the gospel never Auied to give, there 
came to the minds of men a' knowledge of them- 
selves: and seeing themselves as poor and miserable 
and blind and naked without the favor cf their of- 
fended Maker, they were excited to seek that favor 
with their whole heart. They sought that favor, and 
they found it. 

o. Next in order of the (/Ommissiou, and grow* 
ing out of faith as its Icgiiimalc fruit and consc" 
9 



130' TKE NEW LrcSTo- 

quence, came repentance, which, made up of twc^ 
parts, external a?nd internal, n%aj be defined as sacb 
a sorrow for sin as will lead the subject €>f it to re- 
form or amend his life or actions* Faith can never 
"be regarded as sincere or saving till it produces ihig' 
precious fruit. The internal repentance which con- 
sists in shame and sorrow for sin, must arise bj the 
power of faith so high as to enable its possessor not 
only to begin but to carry on the work of ceasing: , 
to do evil- Nc^r will this faith allow him to stop at 
the mere cessation of evil; for God as much requires^ 
and faith as much demands that men should learn to 
do well, as that they should cease to do evil. By 
ceasing to do evil, therefore, and learning to do^ 
well, repentance becomes visible to the society by 
which we are surrounded, and imparts a blessing to 
every circle where it is seen. The internal part of 
repentance consists oi feelings the external of aelion^. 
Faith in the heart, that is, unfeigned faith, stirs up 
the feelings of sorrow and compunction; sorrow and 
compunction prompt the man to action, while hope^ 
now begun in <he soul, imparts the conviction th?^t 
the efforts shall not be made in vain^ Thus the 
whole of repentance springs out of faith by the in- 
evitable laws of the human mind, A fountain or 
reservoir of living water may be said to be placed in 
heaven: faith is a tube which, connected with that 
reservoir, stoops down to earth and connects itself 
to the heart of the believer; and repentance is that 
upward-bound tendency which the man feels in his 
heart and which he shows in his life, and by which 
he endeavors to reach the 'level of that fountain ef 



ox THU CBtRISTlAN CIItRCH. i3i 

living water in heaven. Hence, he who repents 
truly wiii always forsake his sins and become active- 
ly righteous. 

But repentance is not a blind and ill-defined some- 
thing without bounds or measure. If the man have 
committed frauds, he will make restitution if possi- 
ble. If he have done other injuries he will make 
reparation. He will steadily aim, not only that so- 
ciety may be none the worse for his living in it, but 
that it may be positively better. But it cannot be 
supposed that a man is required to be always sor- 
rowing for his sin, or that there is a definite time set 
in weeks or months, ail which must be consumed in 
regrets and sorrows before pardon is vouchsafed. 
Repentance has .^ome terminus — there is some point 
to which it runs — there is some measure which it 
must fill, at which terminus, point, or measure, it is 
pronounced perfect for all the purposes for which it 
was designed. V/ell, what is that point? This 
leads us to remark, 

4. That Baptism finds its place in the Commission 
next after repentance, and is the act which at once 
proves faitli and completes repentance. All things 
being equalit does this. Repentance shows that 
faith is sincere, and baptism proves that repentance 
is true, being the terminus to which repentance 
comes to till its measure. I spenk here not oC hypo- 
crites who go through forms of religion out of some 
corrupt motive, nor of such as do not know what 
they are doing; but oi^ those who ardently, sincere- 
ly, and out of a principle of approbation and con- 
science, submit themselves to the commands of their 



13.3 * THE NEW LIGHT. 

Redeemer. All such persons obtain pardon at the 
time of their baptism, for baptism is to them the 
end and proof of repentance, and repentance is the 
fruit of faith. Faith, by the testimonies of the 
word in this way leads them to God where they find 
remission in submission to his will openly expressed 
in his word. 

No person is truly baptised who does not truly be- 
lieve and repent. The appearance of baptism may 
pass upon him, and it may and must be called bap- 
ti§m hy others, but to him it is not baptism. His 
body is immersed, but his soul remains untouched by 
the powers of the holy institution. The man's cor- 
poreity is born indeed of water, but he is still-born, 
never having been alive before birth. In order to 
be legitimately born into the family of God, v/e 
must first be quickened or made alive by faith, wc 
must and will manifest that life by repentance. 
Brought to the birth in this manner, at the moment 
of our entrance into the church by baptism, the 
blood of the Son of God will, then and there, 
cleanse us from all our past sins. 

We will now inspect the history of the apostles 
under their commission, and ascertain how they 
viewed baptism and for what purpose they preached 
it: for I take it for granted, that if we can under- 
stand the subject as the apostles understood it, what- 
ever may be the cavils of interested and conten- 
tious men, our views will be sound and true. 

It is remarkable, that although our Lord had giv- 
en the foregoing large and general Commission to 
his apostles, he would not allow them to enter upon 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 133 

its duties, or tif depart from Jerusalem, till they 
were " endued with power from on high," that is, 
till thej were baptized with the Holy Spirit. He 
had indicated by the prophets, Isaiah and Micah, & 
that, in order to commence the reign of Messiah, 
" the law should go forth out of Zion, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem." This prophetic word, 
uniting with the commission of the apostles, and the 
declaration of our liOrd to Peter that he would ^ive 
to that apostle the keys of the kingdom of heav- 
en, / uniting with both, give to Jerusalem and to 
Peter a prominence in the grand scene to be devel- 
oped, which cannot fail as an index to guide the en- 
quirerinto truth. Add to all this the fact, that the 
Messiah had promised the gift of " power from on % 
high" to be bestowed '' not many days ^' after the 
day on which he uttered the promise, and then we 
have the following grand and infallible arrange- 
ment for the teaching of truth: First, the prophetic 
word declaring where the gospel should first be 
preached, Jerusalem: Secondly, the commission of 
the apostles commanding them to begin at Jerusa- 
lem: Thirdly, the promise that they should be mi- 
raculously enabled by the Holy Spirit, to commence 
the proclamation within a few days. 

Such were the preparations, and such is the 
channel in which our minds must run if they would 
know the whole truth as it isin*Jesus. The time of 
the promise draws nigh. Pentecost comes. The 
apostles preach. The people are moved and agita- 
ted in the manner already described. They cry 
out, all tremblingly alive to the salvation of their 
kisai. ii. Mic.iv. 1 Matt. xvi. 19. 



134 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



souls, demanding knowledge in the way of duty. 
Then Peter to whom had been given the keys; Pe- 
ter who, but a little before had trembled at the 
glance of a kitchen-maid; Peter^ the net-master of 
the sea of Galilee; Peter, now lexarned in all the 
languages of men, and glowing as under tongues of 
fire celestial— declares to the trembling populace 
what they must do in order to obtain salvation, the 
pardon of their sins— '' Repent!" said he to these 
subjects of keenest compunction— ^'Repent, and be 
baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Ghost/' m The people obey- 
ed immediately, finding, in baptism, what their faith 
had anticipated, and what their.repentance (which is 
an adjunct or fruit of faith) had prepared their minds 
to receive, that is, pardon through the blood of 
Messiah. Thousands on that same day were added 
to the little company of disciples, while fresh and 
heavenly joy ran from heart to heart, and love from 
house to house ! The kingdom of heaven had come, 
and its blessings permeated Jerusalem in all direc- 
tions! 

Such were the circumstances surrounding the first 
preachers of the gospel; such was the design and 
power of baptism as developed by the Ministers of 
the Holy Spirit; and such, let me say with all re- 
spect to the feelings and views of others, is the posi- 
tion or place of baptism among the precepts of our 
holy religion. Henceforward, that baptism was 
preached "for the remission of sins,'' none will de- 
ny. It is so written^ "and the Scriptures cannot be 
m Acts ii. 38, 39, 



^N THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 135 

i3r©ken." But still we anticipate opposition. Learn- 
ing and sophistry are federated in league against 
this doctrine of Peter. Every word in the sentence 
must be put to the torture: for, among Protestants 
generally, the notion obtains that men must be 
thoroughly converted, pardoned, and sanctified be- 
fore baptism — they must be born again of the Spirit 
before they are born of water. These words of Pe- 
ter seem utterly hostile to such (doctrine: therefore 
the apostle must be crucified — his words must be 
perverted, twisted, turned, and made at last to mean 
directly the reverse of what a man of plain common 
€ense would take them to mean! The stamping 
Methodist roars upon the apostle with all the noise 
and wind of his circuitous vocation; the sedate 
Presbyterian smatters and tumbles upon the Greek 
text in order to turn it wrong end foremost; the sly 
Quaker, laying his hand upon his 'belly,' says, the 
will of God is here-^ and last, but most astonishing^ 
the Baptist falls in with all the rest, and would in- 
vent if he could, some machine of language whose 
operation upon the verse in question would make it 
read, ''Repent^ and be baptised because your sins 
ARE pardoned!!!" If any spiritual invention were 
worthy of a patent right, our friends ought to secure 
this for the coming term of patents! 

Not wishing, however, to go into a long argu- 
ment on this subject, I will present it under a com- 
mon-sense view.— There is certainly a time when, 
a place where, a means by which, the Lord forgives 
fiins. All agree in this. And that sins are forgiven 
through^ or for the sake of, Jesus Christ, is a matter 



I3S 



THE NEW LIGHT, 



equally plain, and universally believed. The blood 
of Christ was shed for many, for the remission of 
■ sins"— (not because sins were pardoned, but in ordes- 
to theirpardon)— so "that God might be just and 
the justifier of him that believeth."' Well, can any 
good reason be assigned why God should not forgive 
sins in baptism? If he can, and be just, grant re- 
mission at any time or place, may he r.ot grant it to 
a penitent believer in the very moment and article '■ 
of immersion? Why confine and limit the Almigh- 
ty to the moment of faith? But if it be reasonable 
to hope that God will forgive us when we believe 
and repent, does not the reasonableness of that 
hope become stronger when we add baptism, since, 
as all allow, it is by this act we put on the name and 
obligations of christians? If God forgives us for 
Christ'ssake, that is, because the precious blood of 
the Lamb has been shed for us, is it unreasonable 
that he should grant the pardon when "we are bur 
ried with him in baptism" and raised up in the insti- 
tution? m If remission be found in and through the 
«/eai!Aof Christ, is it not likely that our Heavenly 
Father will grant it when we "are baptised into 
his death?" o If, by nature, by reason of our wick- 
ed works, we are estranged from God, out of Ch"ist 
and without hope; if our Father should forgive us 
at all, would he not do it when we returned to him, 
put on Christ, and were willing and anxious to live 
in him? But how is Christ put on? How are we to 
enter into his family? To these grave and moment- 
ous questions there is but one answer, but that an- 
swer proceeds from the Spirit of life and truth: «& 
n Col. ii. la. o Rom. vi. 3. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 137 

are all the child r en of God by faith i7i Christ Jesus: 
for^ as many of you as have been baptised into 
Christ, have put on Christ."/? Faith leads to God, 
but it leads by Christ; Christ leads bj the word of 
his apostles; and the apostles tell the world to be- 
lieve, repent, and be baptised for the remission of 
sins. This is the way to come into Christ, to put him 
on as it were a garment; thus we find the blessings 
promised to them that believe; and thus, in Christ, 
we are children of God by faith. The intelligent 
Christian knows lohere he was pardoned, v:he.n and 
how he was pardoned, and for the sake of whose 
precious blood the heavenly gift was bestowed upon 
him. 

Touching all the above matters ^here can be no 
dispute, provided the Scriptures are to be our guides: 
if so, we may then ask. Is there some other way to 
God? What nov/ are the altars, anxious seats, 
mourning-benches, and the numerous revival appli- 
ances of this corrupt and superstitious age? What 
are the noisy dogmas of regeneration and the new 
birth without baptism, since, as we have proved, 
baptism is the very act of being born into the fimily 
of God? Just "as many as have been baptised in- 
to Christ," truly and as the Divine Father wills, 
"have put on Christ." None can dispute it. And 
what if some have improperly used the ordinance? 
Does this make the fidelity of God without effect to 
them that use it lawfully? Because some have 
abused the condition of wedlock, is this an argu- 
ment against marriage? Neither Adam nor Eve, 
their sons or daughters, would reason thus. And 
pGall, ill, 26,27, 



138 THE NEW LIGHT. 

jet the country swarms with clergymen, who take 
upon themselves the unreasonable, rebellious, and 
most unduteous task of opposing baptism for the 
remission of sins, and in its place have set up an idol 
of their own brains, an altar, around which the sim- 
ple victims of clerical domination gather, and shout 
and scream and tall and roll and tumble and sweat 
and tremble, till they come to the conclusion that 
their sins are pardoned! Then some of these delu- 
ded creatures boast that they ''got religion on dry 
land!'^ If the reader would see these freaks car- 
ried out in their wildest details, let him visit the 
straw-pen of a Methodist camp-meeting, and his most 
untamed ideas of " helter-skelters," " higgledy-pig- 
gledies," '• odds-and-ends,^' " vaulters," ••'summer- 
sets," and " pell-mell tortuosities," will be realized 
in open day, to say nothing of how things go on af- 
ter sun-down. 

Under the administration of the apostles, the in- 
fluence of truth was powerful but without enthusi- 
asm or fanaticism. Saul of Tarsus himself, that 
bold persecutor, was captivated by its charms; and 
truth was as ready to tell him where and how he 
might find pardon, as it was to criminate him for his 
sins. Listen! "And now," said the minister of 
truth to the convicted and penitent Saul, to Saul un- 
pardoned though a believer — " And now why tarri- 
est though? Arise, and be baptized and wash away 
thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.^'^ The 
man knew none of the modern quibbles which have 
disgraced the name of the Redeemer. He did not 
say, '^I believe, and that is sufficient. I have seen 
s Acts xj\i, 16. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 139 

the glorious light of heaven, and what need I more?" 
There was none of this spiritual wickedness and 
rebellion ! No 5 he arose immediately, was baptized, 
found pardon in so doing, and began those active la- 
bors which have been of infinite worth to mankind. 
But was he baptised because his sins were pardon- 
ed before, or that his sins might be remitted? An- 
swer me, some of you modern doctors who imagine 
you have discovered a more excellent way ! — Let me, 
then, state this fact again: Saul of 1 arsus, "the 
chief of sinners,'? obtained the forgiveness of all 
his past sins, IN BAPTIS3I, calling on the name of the 
Lord, by virlue /of the blood of Jesus Christ. And 
I would infer, that if the chief of sinners obtained 
the blessing in that way, at that time, and through 
those means, others who are less notorious need not 
dispair. 

But the cause for which we plead needs but little 
more illustration at present. Let it suffice to say, 
that in all those places throughout the apostolic 
Epistles where baptism is either mentioned or allu- 
ded to, its prominent design, /Ae rermssion of the siJis 
of believing penitents^ is everywhere conspicuous. 
Mark its design in the following passage, a passage 
which, by the way, is descriptive of the office of 
baptism not in reference to the people of Ephesus 
only, but in reference to the whole christian church :— 
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also 
loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he 
might sanctify and cleanse it with the w^ashing op 
WATER BY THE WORD."?' Now, thcrc is no differ- 
ence between cleansing the church " with the wash' 
rEph.v.25, ^6. 



140 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ing of water bj the word," and being <^* born of wa- 
ter and spirit," or the baptism of true believers " for 
the remission of sins." These are all various modes 
of expression meaning one and the same thing. 
"But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant," 
of these most plain and wholesome truths: but I do 
insist upon it that he keep his ignorance to himself 
and not communicate it to others. Touching this 
whole matter I may say in the language of Paul, 
"If any man think himself to be a prophet or spir- 
itual, let him acknowledge that the things I write 
are the commandments of the Lord." 5 Baptism is 
a commandment of the Lord, for the remission of 
sins, as has been now fully proved; and "if any 
man teach otherwise, a,nd consent not to wholesome 
words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is 
proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions 
and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, 
railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men 
of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth suppo- 
sing that gain is godliness: from such," reader, 
"withdraw thyself," for they abound in every State 
of the Union, t If they tell you (as they vyill) about 
circumcision, and how baptism fills its place upon 
christian children male and female, tell them in turn 
that "circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is 
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of 
God" w is every thing in our holy and blessed reli- 
gion. 

An allusion to baptism made by Paul in his first 
Corinthian Epistle, i; may still further show its place 
S 1 Tim. vi. 3 — 5. t I Cor. xiv. 37. u I Cor. vii. 19. v vi, ii. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 141 

in the economy of vsalvation. After having describ- 
ed many classes of sinners, some of whom appear to 
have been almost utterly depraved, he says to the 
Corinthians, "x\nd such v/ere some of you; but ye 
ARE WASHED, but yc are sanctiticd, but ye are justi- 
fied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spir- 
it of our God." Who does not see Iiere the process 
by v^^hich the Corinthians had become christians? 
Paul is professedly describing that process: of course 
he alludes to the great doctrines of the apostolical 
Commission; so that being \Yashed, sanctified and 
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the 
Spirit of God, is precisely equal to being baptised 
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Ghost, for tlie remission of sins. Of these 
people it is said, '^ Many of the Corinthians, hear- 
ing, believed, and vrere baptized."' w Baptism 
brought them into the church, Tliis v/as done by 
the order of the Spirit of God v/ho spake by the 
apostles; so that of the church it may be said — " By 
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, vv'heth- 
or Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free, and have 
all been made to drink into one Spirit.'^ x Baptism 
was as it were the marriage ceremony to Christ; 
hence christians are said to be one with him and 
members of Ins body, flesh and bones. If our bod- 
ies are members of Christ, '^ shall I then,'" says Paul, 
'• take the members of Christ, and make them mem- 
bersof a harlo ?"^ " He who is joined to a harlot, 
is one body ^' with her. Sach are the reasonings of 
Paul. All those, therefore, who gooff from Clirist 
and teach the doctrines of division, or start new in- 
w Acts xvii. 8. x I Cor. xii. 13. y 1 Cor. vi. 15. 



142 THE NSW LIGHI!^. 

stitutionsor doctrines of religion, are joined to har-^ 
lots and are one flesh with them. In this way apos- 
tacy after apostacy took place from the truth, till in 
the end the " Motlier of harlots and abominations" 
Was seated on her Beast of ten hornsj and crucified 
the Lord of glory a second time in the " Sodom and 
Egypt'^ and utter depravity of Roman Papalism. 
And fo this day in all Catholic countries, and in ev- 
ery country where a Roman chapel is erected, you 
may see the sign of this second crucifixion over the 
bell. As he passes over the country should the 
traveler ask. Where is Christ crucified again? the 
cress of every Catholic cathedral answers, ^'Here! 
HERE is the place where we do it! heke we do it 
constantly!" 

The manner of access to God under the gospel, 
compared with all that had gone before since the 
world began, by reason of its greater simplicity, by 
reason of its quickening power, and by reason of the 
clear assurance of favor which it imparted, is styled 
by Paul " a new and living way" through the flesh 
of Jesus. " Let us," then, says he, ^'draw near with 
a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our 
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our 

BODIES WASHED IN PUliE WATER." ^ With thcSe 

qualifications the Christians in Judea worshipped 
God. In those days of simplicity and godliness the 
inversion of this order had not obtained: but 7iow we 
are told of the baptism or immersion of the heart, 
and the sprinkling of the body, or rather face! 
Tfieri^ the heart was sprinkled^ and the body zvasked. 
Xow^ the body is not even damped^ as for the heart, 
zHeb.x. 22. 



ON THE CHHISTIAH CHURCfi. 143 

all the work is supposed to be finished upon it! 
Such is the difference! In the beginning, men were 
saved "according to the mercy of God, bj the 
Trashing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy ^ 
Ghost:" a now, they profess to be saved without 
any washing atall-^for they can make the renewal 
of the Holy Spirit and the washing of regeneration 
signify the same thing? Alas, when will men learn 
to trust to the wisdom of God, and to account the 
wisdom of the wise and of the disputers of this world 
vain and deceitful. 

Thus have I now at length fairly and I think clear- 
ly and scripturally, illustrated the great subjects of 
FAITH, REPENTANCE and BAPTIS3I, and showu that all 
these are necessary in order that a sinner or alien 
from God may find his way to heaven. 1 have spo- 
ken of things only under the gospel, not under the 
law. Faith is necessary to repentance, repentance 
leads to and results in baptism, baptism is necessary 
to remission, and remission is essential to entering 
heaven. So, without controversy, the aposties taught.^ 
If there be any other way, the Bible has not reveal- 
ed it to me: and I think, that if those who say there 
is some other way, would employ themselves in 
preaching this apostolic doctrine^ there would be 
more love and unity among christians, more con- 
versions to God from the world, and infinitely less 
division and contention, w^hich have been multiplied 
to such an extent that infidelity is now almost ready 
to take the world! 



CHAPTER XL 

Tlie Name of the Church introduced — Importance of the ICani^ 
— Why called the Christian Church— The name defended by 
Several Arguments — Reflections— Conclusioms. 

Hitherto we have treated of the church as a 
company of faithful or believhig persons; as a conn* 
munity which, however situated in different parts of 
the world, and distributed into local societies, is es- 
sentially and emphatically onk; as the corporate 
body of Christ, holding each individual member as 
a member of every other member; as the earthly 
Temple of the Lord, having his good and free Spirit 
as a Guest and Comforter; and as an institution 
which the Lord has set for th^ conversion of the 
world by recommending his name and nature to the 
imitation and acceptance of m^^nkind* it now re-' 
mains that we investigate the name which it was the 
divine will this community should bear throuG^h all 
time, or whether there be such a name, or whether 
the church is left to be called by any name which 
circumstances may give or that malice may invent. 

•\nd, in the first place, as a necessity from the na- 
ture of the case, the church must and ought to hold 
the name as v/ell as the nature of her Founder. He 
claims the church as his own institution, as his own 
house, as his own body, as his ovv'n spouse: and if he 
himself, in relation to man, holds one name as more 
apposite than another, or by which he would more 
especially be called, that name, out of the necessity 
of the relation between him and his people, must 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CKUKCH. 145 

pass -over to them as a general and corporate body* 
The name "christian church," therefore, becomes 
by necessity, and hence by divine appointment, the 
distinguishing appellation of the people of God un»> 
der the new dispensation. I will not take ypon me 
to say it is the only divinely appointed name; yet I 
will say it is divinely appointed^— nay, more; 1 will 
say that it embraces and embodies the meaning and 
import of all the other names by which the church 
as known, and at the same time presents ^uch a fea- 
ture as at once and fully indicates to whom she be- 
longs. All reasonable men will, I think, admit the 
soundness of this argument: but for (he sake of set- 
tling the question of the name, I will call to my aid 
a few Scriptiares which bear immediately upon the 
subject. 

"Upon this Rock," said Jesus, namely, upon 
the confession of his name and obedience to his 
laws as universal Monarch—" Upon this Rock," not 
upon Peter and his successors, for such an officer as 
his successor never lived in Rome or America, in the 
first or nineteenth century — " Upon this Rock I will 
build my church; and the gates of hell," the pow- 
ers of the grave, "shall not prevail against it."^ 
On this passage take a few reflections- 
First — We notice, that at the time of uttering this 
sentence, there was no such system of truth devel- 
oped as we now call Christianity: the church of 
Christ was not at that time established: he predicts 
or points out the time when it should be erected. 
But it is necessary to remember, that after Christian- 
ity was confirmed in the earth, promises were made 
10 aMatt. svi. 18. 



in it in reference to all the saints under the patr?- 
archal and Jewish economies, that in the economy 
of ages thej should all be gathered together under 
Christ: yet the form which the christian religion^ 
put on by the authority of the apostles, was some- 
thing distinct from any thing that had gone before^' 
though embracing to fhe utmost perfection all the 
immutable or moral principles of the divine law,. 
So different its form, so clear its evidence, and so' 
bright and unclouded ils hope, that it was styled the 
New Covenant, th^ better Promises, the Reforma- 
tion, the Better Hope. All cloud of figure ancf 
parable, all mist of darfe sayings or proverbs, is with- 
drawn, and mankind are made to see the clear light 
of fulfilled prophecy, and to enjoy the living hope of 
an eternal and happy existence, by the resurrection^^ 
of Jesus Christ. By this great and glorious event,^ 
the gates or powers of the grave are annihilated in^ 
respect to the saints of all ages; for in the fulness af 
time they shall all triumph by its power. The pow- 
ers of the grave shall not prevail against the people 
of God. 

Second — The Institution w^hich the liord here 
promises to build, is not left as a nameless corpora- 
tion to be buffetted by a thousand soubriquets or ti- 
tles of bastardy. He calls it " mv church," and 
wemustcallit his church, which is the same asr 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Wc havo, thcu, the same di- 
vine authority to denominate it the christian churchy 
as he had to call it mij church'^ for a posses sivenour^ 
or pronoun relating to another noun^ is but thes^ime 
thing with an adjective or quality derived from that 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 147 

possessive noun. For instance, — In one form or an- 
other, our names are upon every item of our property, 
whether that property be estate real or personal. In 
speaking of that property our names become adjec- 
tives or qualities by which the property is dsignated. 
Hence I say of the premises on which I live, my 
fcirm\ but my neighbors call it the Djirrow farm, or 
they may properly alter the termination of the word 
and call it the Doirrownian farm. But my name ig 
as inseperable from every horse, sheep, cow, &c. on 
the premises, as it is from my own person, tiil they 
pass into other hands, when they take the name of 
the next purchaser* They are under my authority or 
name, and subject to my pleasure; and when they 
are spoken of, they are spoken of as mine, and nev- 
er can be identiiied without the name of an owner. 
How important, then, is a name! 

We have now, therefore, divine authority for call- 
ing the church ChrisCs churchy but as this phrase is 
heavy and cumbersome, its precise equivalent, Chris- 
iian churchy may be used in preference. So that we* 
have the same divine authority for the name Chris- 
tian church, as we have for Christ's church, because, 
out of the necessity of language it is unavoidable. 
In our translation of the Scriptures the term chrU' 
iian does not very frequently appear, but it might 
have appeared to advantage in numerous instances. 
Thus, in Rom. I: 16, we have the equivalent of "I 
am not ashamed of the christian gospel; for it is the ♦ 
power of God," &c. So also in Rom. xvi. 16, "The 
christian churches salute you." Now, there is not 
the least difference between the phrases " churches 



148 THE NEW LIGHT. 

of Christ,'' and " christian churches." No man can 
show a difference; and therefore we have divine au- 
thority for the name "the Christian church" when 
speaking of the whole or general Body, and for ihe 
name " christian churches'' when speaking of in- 
dividual congregations. By this doctrine of equiva- 
lents we find the term christian in 1 Cor. vi. 15: 
"Know ye not that your bodies are christian mem- 
bers? Shall I then take christian members and 
make them members of a harlot?" A christian is 
not to be used in this way. By the same rule the 
whole church is called "the christian body'' in 
1 Cor. xii. 27. "Now ye are the Christian Body, 
and members in particular." Again, and finally 
(for it would be endless to specify every instance) we 
have "christian doctrine" in Heb. vi. 1. 

Let us now review our ground — We have divine 
authority for the terms " Christian church," " chris- 
tian gospel," christian churches," "christian Body," 
" Christian members," " christian doctrine," &c. &c. 
This is enough. But as there are those who raise 
objections, we will dig still deeper into these mines 
of wisdom and knowledge. 

The attentive reader of the Bible has noticed, 
that the church is frequently styled the church of 
God, or that congregations of disciples in different 
countries, are called by this name. Why is this? 
Undoubtedly, because those congregations belong 
1o God, they are his, they were founded by his wis- 
dom, power, and goodness. We have, then, divine 
authority for calling the church " the church of God." 
But all things which belong to the Father, belong al- 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 149 

SO to Christ: there are no separate or opposing in- 
terests: but as Christ is the Savior of the church by 
his own blood, and the apostles speak of him under 
the name Christ not as his official but his personal 
name, that personal name, from the necessity of the 
case, must pass over upon the community which he 
has redeemed. The churches are said to be in God, 
in Christ, and in the Spirit, because they have been 
baptised into those names; but from the fact that 
Christ is " the Savior of the Body " which is pecu- 
Jairly his own, his name, as the founder of the fam- 
ily, seems most appropriately to belong to it. God, 
however, would have variety in the titles by which 
he would have the whole body of the faithful called; 
but when we have exhausted that variety, it is our 
duty to stop and go no farther. Call the church, 
then, as a general body, by the denomination of the 
Christian church, or the church of God; but never 
brand her with the opprobrious epithets which Cath- 
olics and Protestants have invented. 

It may be proper to speak of the people of God 
under the gospel as having some divine names for 
the whole body taken collectively, and for individ- 
uals viewed singly. Now, the name of the whole 
body, as we have already proved, is "the Christian 
Church," or " Church of God;" but individuals are 
variously named, disciples, brethren, servants, sheep, 
citizens, soldies, children, &c, &c., and several 
times christians. Such are the data before us, and 
our reasoning must be in the following way. Are 
we at liberty as christians to select any of those in- 
dividual names for the name of the whole body? 



150 THE NEW LIGHT. 

If we may select one of (hem, we may select all. 
Some, 1 know, have selected disciples for the name of 
the church, With the same propriety we might call 
the church the brethren church! ih^ servanls church! 
the c/Z/z^m' church! the soldiers^ church! the chil- 
dren's c\i\xYc\\\ ihe sheep church! These terms can 
never apply as the names of a community for the 
most obvious reason in the world — for it would be 
foolish and absurd. 

But if we may not' appropriate even scripture 
names which are but the appellations of individuals 
who are themselves members of the body; much 
less dare we to fix upon the church the surnames of 
certain eminent disciples. Nor can we from the 
names of any of the offices or officers of the Chris- 
tian church compound or derive a name for the 
whole body. If there be presbyters in the church, 
must the whole community on that account be styled 
Presbyterians? Suppose we have bishops in the 
church, must the church then be named bishopian or 
episcopalian? If all this be absurd, how much more 
so when some custom of some party, some rite or 
ceremony, is taken for the name, as Methodist, Bap- 
tist, &.C. or when some mountain or river of the 
earth gives a theological nnme, as Cumberland Vve^- 
byterian &c. or when some political institution be- 
comes the name, as the Methodist E. church. Souths 
Norih^&LC. The whole of this is sublimated folly; 
nay, it is manifest impiety. 

Let us further reason on the subject as involved in 
the text we are investigating. 

I wish to say again most distinctly, that the Divine 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 151 

Spirit has already furnished the church itself with 
divine names, whidfe are aM synonimous and all 
€qual to the divinely authorized phrase, "the Chris- 
tian Church," and each individual member with a 
variety of names, as a member, so that he may ful- 
ly understand his relations to God aud to mankind. 
God has named his church as a body, as a family, a 
kingdom, a house, a temple; and if it Recalled a 
body, then each individual is termed a member; 
if it be called a family, individuals are known as 
children; if it be termed a kingdom, christians are 
then slyled subjects or citizens; if a house, we are 
called stones, &c. &c. But are we at liberty, let 
me ask again, to denominate the whole church the 
stone church, &c.? Let me put a case that will cov- 
er the whole premises. 

Paterfamilias is the father, say of twenty children, 
who reside under the paternal roof. Each child 
of course has a name by which he is distinguised 
from his brothers and sisters. But besides ihe names 
Peter, John, James, &c. the father has allowed him- 
self to call them brethren^ disciples^ dear^ beloved^ and 
so on; which designations are alike applicable to 
them all. Suppose, now, that after some years the 
familj' divides; some go into captivity; some to one 
jplace, some to another. Suppose, again, that after 
many years, a number of these children, the father 
dead and the mother no more, come together as a 
family, and attempt family order in all that pertains 
to housekeeping. Well, every thing goes on well 
for a time. After a while, however, one of the 
^eaioT brethren ieeJing the responsibilities upon him, 



152 THE NEW LIGHT* 

and exceedingly anxious to maintain the honors of 
the family, (for we may leave the spirit of ambitioti 
and self aggrandizement wholly out of the ques- 
tion,) starts a query as to the name the family should 
w^ear among the Dei2:hbors, " Our name," says he, 
" what is it?" Finally he gives it as his deliberate 
advice that they should he called 'brethren]^ for^ 
says he, father used to have us call one another by 
this name. Very well, says a junior brother, we are 
brethren, to be sure, but I remember that father call- 
ed us beloved sometimes, and I think we should be 
called the belozed family* Hold there, says a third: 
father indeed called us beloved and brethren^ but I re- 
member he called us chiddren too — and will not this 
term do for the name of the family? Thus the dis- 
cussion goes on till ill words are spoken and ill feel- 
ings are indulged in the household. 

In the midst, however, of the warmest contest, a 
stranger steps in, and the contending parties beg him 
to become umpire among them. He consents. First, 
he calls on A, saying, whose son are you? A an- 
swers, the son oi Paterfamilias. B is next called. 
Whose son are you? The son of FaterfamiKas, says 
B. C is now summoned. Whose son axe you? 
The son of Paterfamilias, says C* And so he went 
on to the last; and, ''the son of Paterfamilias," was 
the answer of every child in the house. 

Well, then, says the umpire, this is beyond com- 
pare, the silliest discussion I have heard ! You all 
say you are the sons of Paterfamilias, all have the 
same father and the same mother! Did you lose 
your family name by captivity and dispers^ioj^?; ^2r 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 153 

because the founder of the family is dead, is its name 
dead also? Will you be so foolish as to attempt to 
impose your own names, or the laudatory titles your 
father gave you, on his family, and thus obliterate 
his name? You compose now the paler^familian 
family — that is your name, and the name of the 
founder of a family or institution, is inseperable 
from that family or institution. By virtue of your 
birth you have all inherited the name of Paterfam- 
ilias. Now, continues the umpire, the term pater- 
familian when asserted of the family, includes with- 
in itself every idea that all the other names by 
which you were individually or collectively called, 
inculcate. It has, besides, another advantage, in 
that it can be used both as a name and the quality 
of a name. Speaking of the family it would sound 
strangely to call it the brethren family, the children 
family! So said the umpire. — The parable is just, 
and the interpretation thereof sure. 

Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great Pater- 
familias or Oiko-despot of his own family or house, 
''•whose house are \^e, if we hold fast the confidence 
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.'^ 
Is not his name inseperable from the community he 
has condescended to call his JBorfy? How can the 
Head hold one name and the body another? The 
truth is, the church as truly and properly inherits the 
name of Christ, as Eve did the name of Adam in the 
day of their creation — and "God called their no?72tf 
Adam" — it was the family name and is to this 
day. 

There is no way to avoid the above very forcible 



154 ^HE NEW LiGHT^ 

coneliisi^fi, but to deny thdit Christ is a proper name^ 
to deny i\\^t chrisi ian is a patronymic, a name de- 
rived fronn a father or founder. To this let me re- 
ply, that many of the names of Jesus are officinl, not 
proper names. Je5i(.s itself is purely an official title: 
he was so called because he was to "'save his people 
from their sins." So also, Prophet, Priest, King, 
&c. are all of them official titles. But the term 
Christ is not an official but a proper name, the name 
of a person, of a founder ^f an econovmy. The 
.case stands thus. The Son of God was clirhled^ 
that is, anointed, that he might be a Savior, Priest^ 
Captain, &c: (ov iWx^christing ov anointing by the 
Spirit had to precede or go before all his official 
•works. Hence he is styled in plain English, the 
Master Savior Anointed. We are now prepared to 
«ay, that however many of the tides or names of 
the Son of God are official, the name christ is 7\ut an 
official name, or the name of an office. Tliere is no 
office in the scheme of redemption called Christy but 
Jesus i- himself so called because the Father anoint- 
ed him to he a Savior. When God made his Son 
both Lord and Christ, it w\as done by giving him 
the Spirit •' not by measure," so that he might fulfil 
every office to which the Father had called him* 
His becoming the Christ was simply his being qual- 
ified tobe a Prophet, Priest, King, &c.; all which 
functions arose, not ihat he might be Christ, but be- 
cause he was Christ. He became Christ from the 
act of the Father in giving him the undioii^ and he 
went into oflice afterv/ards because he had the unc- 
tion. So far, therefore, is the name Christ from be* 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 155 

ing the name of an office, that it is proposed as the 
very basis of all his oilices, and is that which stamps 
an infinite worth and efficacy upon all his official 
transactions in relation to us. As Prophet, Priest^ 
Savior, he has founded a kingdom, church, or 
body, which is his own property. '•' On this Rock," 
said he, " I will build my church." " My Church," 
in the mouth of Christ, and ''Christian Church" 
in ours when we speak of it, are phrases precisely 
synonimous — and having divine authoiity for the 
one, we have the same for the other. It therefore 
follows that the name of the family of Christ, is the 
Christian Churchy Church of God^ or any name 
precisely equivalent, and which is contained iii the 
Bible. It is exceedingly improper to take any of 
the names of the saints by which they are known 
among themselves, as disciples^ breihren^ children^ 
sheep^ citizens^ &c. and make them the name of the 
family to which they belong. As well might my 
son Peter, if that be his name, take the liberty of 
calling my family the Peter family, as the disciples 
of Christ can term the household of Aiith the Disci- 
pie family. Whoever heard of children giving names 
to the families of which they are members! Or is 
it indeed, in any case, permitted to children to give 
names either to themselves or their families? When 
my children are born, they immediately inherit my 
name and my property, and the name is essential to 
dieir being de fuclo heirs. I call my sons by names 
appropriate to each; but I can never consent that 
my family shall be called James, or Alexander, or 
Andrew. Neither because I may sometimes call 



156 THE NEW LIGHT. 

them good boys by way of encouragement or praise, 
is my family allowed to call itself the good-boy fam- 
ily! Or, if they, as dutiful children, spend a part 
of their time in learning and observing the laws of 
the household, does this attribute of their character 
entitle my whole family to be named the disciple 
family? I think not. No man in his senses would 
reason thus. It is therefore as clear as demonstra- 
tion, that when we are born of God by Christ, we 
immediately inherit not only divine names, such as 
brethren, disciples, ci'izens, christians, &c. but the 
very name of the Founder of our religion as the 
name of the body to which we belong. The name 
of Eve was Adam, and the name of the church is 
Christ. The truth of this last proposition is clear 
from all those scriptures which speak of believers 
as being " in Christ^'^^ of which there is a great vari- 
ety. Now, we cannot be in Christ literally: there 
must be some community which has the name of 
Christ, and that community is the Church. " If any 
man be in Christ, he is a new creature ^' — and this is 
equivalent to saying, " If any man be in the churchy 
he is a new creature." To be in the church and to 
be in Christ, are the same thing, because his corpo- 
rate body has the same name that his person had 
while it was on earth among men. 

I do not contend that the name " The Christian 
Church^'' as an appellation of the church universal, 
is the only divinely authorized designation; but I 
contend that that name is divinely appointed and 
may be used for and instead of any other name, as 
the speaker or writer may please. But should any 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 157 

one say the. same of the name ''the Church of God^^'^ 
&c. I will have no controversy with him: for the 
church of God, or the household of faith, cannot 
mean any thing different from the church of Christ. 
We inherit the name and the property of our Foun- • 
der: we are joint heirs with Christ. But an objec- 
tor says, ¥/hy not call the people of God Jesuits as 
well as Christians? and the church the Jesuine as 
well as the Christian church? The reason is obvi- 
ous. Did we take up any of the official names of 
the Son of God, and name his church from his offi- 
ces, there would be a manifest absurdity in so doing. 
It would not do to say Jesuine church, sacerdotal 
church, regal church, mediatorial church, or pro- 
phetical church: for this would be to parcel Christ 
off in a way revolting to all reasonable men. Be- 
sides, it would be absurd in another view: for as 
Christ, because he was Christ, became a Savior, 
Priest, King, Prophet, &c. the name of any one of- 
fice as the name of his church, would not express 
the whole nature of the church. Whereas, the 
word Christy vAnch is the basis of every saving office, 
comprehends and expresses all that all his offices 
could express were they named out in long and te- 
dious detail; and the term ''Christian Church^^ 
means as much as the names of all Christ's offices 
could mean: and this is the reason why the church 
is named after Christ rather than after Jesus or any 
other official name. My sons inherit my name, and 
yet not every distinguishing feature of my name. 
To them belongs the Darrozc^ not the Jason^ by in- 
heritance and the laws and fitness of things. Just 



158 THIS NEW LIGHT. 

SO precisely, to the people of God under the gospeTy 
belongs the name christian not Jesuine or Jesu-^ 
Christian^ but sinriply christian. It would also be 
absurd to call the church the Je^'u-Chi^htian churchy 
for the same reason. 0«r English words divine 
ciiUKCH would express all that we mean by the 
^'church of God:" or if we had an English quality 
signified by a termination of the word God^ the idea 
might be expressed in that way 5; but we cannot say 
God, Godian, as we say Christ, Christian;' — we say 
simply cliv.He^ which is as welL 

It may be well to enquire in the next place, wheth- 
er we are to regard Jesus Christ as the Founder of 
a family or government on the earth. And on this- 
subject there is, I believe, a universal concurrence 
of sentiment. The church is slylcd his house or 
family, his kingdom, his bride, his field or husband- 
ry, and his body. There can be no dispute hercr 
V/ell, the question must be varied into the following^ 
As the founder of a family, house, body, temple, 
church, or kingdom, docs his name as necessarily 
pas upon that family, house, body, temple, church, or 
kingdom, as it is certain to exist by the powers of 
his gracious Spirit? For the answer of this ques- 
tion, let the reader imagine, if he can, a church or 
kingdom established by Christ, which does not be- 
long to him. A church which is not his, is not the 
Christian church; but just as certainly as he claims 
his church, just so certainly it holds and wears his 
name from the necessity of the case. He is the 
Head of it; and there is not one name for the Head, 
and another for the Body* Eve took the name of 



ON THE CH:R1STIAN CIItTRCH. 15^ 

Adant from the necessity of wedlock, and the Churcb 
takes (he name of Christ from the same or a similar 
necessity. We have, therefore, plain and irrefuta- 
ble authority fo denominating the church the Chris- 
tian church; for the authority is that of the holy 
Scriptures. Christ says, my church; we say his 
church; but his church, is equivalent to Christian 
chiireh: so that we have the sa^ive Scripture for call- 
ing it the christian church,,that Christ had for call- 
ing it his church. 

All the above is undeniable, unless it can be shown 
that JtSus^ or Kingy or Priest^ or some other official 
name, has equal claims as a patronymic with the 
name Chrisi; but we have already proved that the 
nnmc Chris I on/y is <i pnivonyimc^ or the name to 
be conferred on his family, church, or kingdom. By 
the Hebrew Prophets he was foretold as the Messiah-^- 
But the Greeks termed him the Christy a term pre- 
cisely equivalent. Why not, then, say some, caH 
the church the Messianic diurch? We say, this- 
term would expres.^ the kiea, but it is more remote 
from our languege than the term christian^ \v\\\c\\ \fr 
familiar to every one: there is therefore no necessi- 
ty for such a change. Others, desirous perhaps to 
show their smartness, tell us that Messiah and Christ 
are terms which signify a^«a^Vf/er/; then why not call 
the people of God under Christ Anointeds! Well, 
that word would express the whole idea, but there is 
no necessity for it; it is a much more bungling word 
than christiati: besdes, by long use and prescriptioDy 
christian has become a part of our language and of 
ull languages, which cannot be said of the other 



160 THE NEW LIGHT, 

term. But if any are determined to have a purely 
English name for the church and will call it the 
church of the Anointed^ I will have no controversy 
with them. 

It was customary among the ancient Hebrews, 
when a new king was to be crowned, for a certain 
person to anoint him with oil. So that all kings 
were so many christs, for they received the regal 
unction. Such was the origin of the term. And 
when the Son of God came into the world to save 
sinners, in order that he might be able to do this, 
tlie Father christed him, or, to say it in our English 
Vf3,y^'^ anointed him with the oil of gladness above 
his fellows" — gave him the Holy ''Spirit without 
measure,'^ and thus fitted him to the work to which 
he had been called, 'i hus the Father made him 
Christy that is, fully authorised him, by the Holy 
Spirit, to do every thing necessary for the deliver- 
ance of the human race. This great transaction of 
giving him the measureless Spirit of the eternal 
God, gave a surname to Jesus of Nazareth, which, 
by the necessity of the case, as well as by divine ap- 
pointment, is thrown over the whole body of the 
faithful, as inevitably as the name of my reader is 
inherited by his children. 

This will appear still more obvious if we reflect 
that all believers in Christ are said to be chrisls or 
anointed ones in him. A few passages will confirm 
this. The apostle John has this remarkable expres- 
sion: '^But ye have an ukction from the Holy One, 
and ye know all things." 6 The word rendered 
unction is chrisma in the Greek, or, as we would say, 
b 1 John ii. 20. 



ON THE CHRISTIAN CHtTRCH. 161 

^ christening* All the disciples were chrisiened or 
christed by the Holy One, which is a form of expres- 
sion equivalent to his making them christians* 
What is here called a divine chrism^ was the teach- 
ing of the apostles in general, and particularly that 
" heavenly gift" of the Holy Spirit which God gives 
to all them who submit to his government. And 
what if Romanists, Episcopalians, and others, have 
perverted this divine truth; and what if christening 
now generally means no more than imposing a 
damp finger on the face of a child, and giving it a 
name at the font: and what if nearly every doc- 
trine of religion has been perverted and corrupted 
by the •' man of sin and son of perdition;" shall we 
therefore conclude that there is no truth on the 
earth? I suppose not. Every believer in coming to 
Christ, is christened in the lavcr of regeneration, re- 
ceiving then and there not only the name christian^ 
but the oil of gladness among his fellows. They 
become "members of his body, of his flesh, and of 
his bones;" and how this can be without having his 
name divinely belonging to them, is left to be de- 
termined by ambitious partizans who, in one way or 
another, -desire to have their own names identified 
with their parties. 

The same apostle elsewhere, c twice uses the 
same word; but our translators render it by the 
term anointing: — '^'But the anomting which you 
have received of him, abideth in you, and ye need 
not that anj' man teach you, but as the same anoint- 
ing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and no 
lie: and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide 

11 clJohnii.27. 



16^' THE NEW lltGWra 

in him." So soon, therefore, as God^k chrism^ unc^ 
tion^ or anointin^^ in poured: upon the obedient be-^ 
liever, that believer receives both the nature and 
name of his Savior — he partakes of the divine na- 
ture when he is baptized into the divine names. Pe-: 
ter fully confirms these declarations by saying, "If 
any one suffer as a christian, let him not be ashamed ;- 
but let him glorify God on that account," d 

Thus have J taken what may be termed a com- 
prehensive view of this subject, and have fully 
proved that the name of that community which we 
call the church, is properly, necessarily, and divine- 
ly, the church of God, or to say all in one beautiful 
and most honorable phrase, the christian church. 
I have studied brevity. There are very many argu- 
ments of another kind; but these I esteem as invul- 
nerable. If some party leader or partizan should 
think proper to assail them, let him try; but I will 
tellhim before he commence that he must gnaw a 
rasp when he would impugn these truths— he will 
kick against the goads — he will fling straws against 
the wind which God himself has commissioned to 
sweep over the earth. Call the saints as individuals 
by any Scripture appellation you please, as disci- 
ples, brethren, children, citizens, stones, sheep; but 
when you speak of the names of the universal con-^ 
gregation, call it by its divine and worthy name, 
'^THE Christian Church." 

The union of hispeople for which the liOrd Jesus 

so devoutly prayed, can never be effected till they 

throw aside their party names. The will of God' 

never made a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Cath* 

dl Pet. iv. le. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST* 163 

idIIc, or Episcopalian church: and God peremptorily 
requires all his people in those parties to come out 
from among them. A Methodist church! a Presby' 
terian c\\\xvc\\\ ^Baptist church! an Episcopalian 
church! a Catholic or Romanist church! What 
slanders upon all that is holy qnd good! If all 
these parties and party names have the sanction of 
heaven, then God has a Roman CathoHc will, an 
Episcopalian will, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, or a 
Baptist will! What absurdities! But as we have 
now finished this part of the subject, we shall treat 
no further of the impropriety of these partyisms till 
we come to discourse of the rise, reign, and fall of 
Antichrist — and to this great task, by the readers 
permission, we now immeditely come^ 



CHAPTER XIL 

Jtr-nticiirist Introduced — Antichr'st a subject of ancienl Prophecy 
— Daniel the Prophet— Seventh Chapter of Daniel analyzed— 
The Little Horn of the Fourth Sea-Monster proved to be the 
Romanist Church — Eight Characteristics of the Little Horn all 
answerinor to Romanism^ — Inspiration of Daniel argued from his 
Predictions. 

HwiNG now traced out tlie lineaments of the 
Christian Church, that divine and divinely named 
community — having contemplated her powers, sum- 
med up her duties, and, in a general way, presented 
her portrait according to the words of the holy 



164 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Scriptures; we come now to draw the contrast of 
that portrait by sketching the form and figure of An- 
tichrist. This we shall do from the same source, 
namely, the Scriptures of truth. This chapter shall 
be devoted to showing, that the coming of Anti- 
christ was an event which had been abundantly 
foretold by the Prophets and Apostles, A few se- 
lect and unambiguous passages will suffice for this 
purpose. 

We begin with the vision or dream of Daniel, the 
captive prophet at Babylon. He says, "I saw in 
my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of 
heaven strove upon the great sea," [or Mediterrane- 
an.] And four great ££^5/5 came up from the sea, 
diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, 
and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings there- 
of were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, 
and made stand on the feet as a man, and a man's 
heart was given to it. And behold, another Beast, 
a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on 
one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it 
between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, 
'Arise, devour much flesh ! ' After this 1 beheld, and 
lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon the 
back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also 
four heads; and dominion was given to it. After 
this, I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth 
Beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; 
and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke 
in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of 
it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were 
before it; and it had ten horns. 1 considered the 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 165 

horns, and, behold, there canne up among [or behind] 
them another little horn, before whom there were 
three of the -first horns plucked up by the roots: 
and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a 
man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld 
till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of 
Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and 
the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne 
was like the firey flame, and his wheels as burning 
fire. A firey stream issued and came forth from be- 
fore him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, 
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before 
him: the judgement was set, and the books were 
opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the 
great words which the Horn spake; I beheld even 
till the Beast was slain, and his body destroyed and 
given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest 
of the Beasts, they had their dominion taken away: 
yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a 
time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one 
like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heav- 
en, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they 
brought him near before him. And there was given 
him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all 
people, nations and languages should serve him: his 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
destroyed. " 

I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of 
my bod}', and the visions of my head troubled me. 
I came near unto one of them that stood by, and 
asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and 



166 THE 1«EW lilGHT. 

made me know the interpretation of the things. 
These great Beasts which are four are four kings 
{that is monarchies] which shall arise out of the 
earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take 
the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even 
forever and ever. Then I would know the mean- 
ing of the fourth Beast which was diverse from all 
the others, exceedingly dreadful, whose teeth were 
of iron and his nails [ar claws] of brass; which de« 
voured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue 
with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his 
head, and of the other horn which came up and be- 
fore whom three fell; even of that horn that had 
eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, 
whose look was more stout than his fellows. I be- 
held, and the same horn made war with the saints, 
and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of 
Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of 
the Most High, and the time came that the saints 
possessed the kingdom. Thus he said. The fourth 
Beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, 
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall 
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and 
break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this 
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another 
shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from 
the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he 
shall speak great words against the most high, and 
shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think 
to change times and laws: and they shall be given 
into his hand until a time and times and the dividing- 
of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall 



ON ANTI-'CHRIST, 167 

ttake away hk dominion, to consume and to destroy 
fit to the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and 
the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heav- 
en, shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting king- 
dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 
Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me, Dan- 
iel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my coun- 
tenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in 
my heart.*' a 

Such was the strange and most* wonderful vision 
of Daniel the prophet. Since time began never 
was there a more true and exact delineation, in so 
short a space, of the principal events of the history 
of the world. The Babylonian Empire, the first 
universal one after the flood, is seen on the waters 
of the Mediterranean, like a lion with the wings of 
an eagle, uniting the king of beasts with the king 
of birds, and sweeping over the earth in its gigantic 
strength and eagle speed! But the heart of a man 
is given to it, and it falls, loses its wings, and sinks 
as beneath the mighty waters. Next, a bear-like 
beast is seen rising from the waters, the emblem of 
the Medes and Persians. It holds in its mouth three 
ribs of the former beast, and pressing on, devours 
•much flesh. Next in order the prophet contem- 
plates a third, a leopard-like monster, having four 
heads and four wings, which, adding wings to legs 
and claws, fetches a flying race over the whole 
world, and rises to universal dominion. The Gre- 
cian Monarchy under Alexander and his successors, 
is represented hy this spotted monster. But tlie 
.aJDan. yii. 



168 THE NEW LIGHT. 

fourth beast is most formidable of all. Strong ex- 
ceedingly, dreadful and terrible, with great iron 
teeth ready to quell all opposition, it devoured and 
broke in pieces and stamped all enemies under its 
feet. It was unlike any of the rest, being as it were 
the compound monstrousness of them all. It had 
ten horns; nay, it had eleven ^ for a little horn 
comes up behind or among the rest, and grows &o 
rapidly, that three of the ten fall before it and it re- 
mains the eighth horn on the head of the monster. 
But most strange to relate, the prophet considering 
this Horn, discovers that it has eyes " like the eyes 
of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.^' The 
reader does not require to be told that this Beast 
represents the Roman Government, the last univer- 
sal secular empire on earth. 

But there is one horn in this great group of horns 
on the head of this savage wild beast, to which the 
attention of the prophet is particularly directed. I 
would know, said he, the meaning " of the ten horns 
that were in the head of the Beast, and of the oth- 
er HORN which came up, and before which three 
fell, — the meaning of that Horn which had eyes^ 
and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose 
look was more stout than his fellows." He contin- 
ues to regard this looking and speaking horn, till he 
beholds it making war with the saints and prevailing 
against them. A bystander explains to the prophet 
the meaning of this horn, that it is a kingdom of 
government that rises up after the Roman Empire 
had fallen into ten parcels or kingdoms — that it en- 
grosses as its own the territories of three of thes^ 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 16$ 

kingdoms, and is governed by different laws and un- 
der a different head — Ihat it is a power which di- 
rectly opposes the government of heaven, speaking 
great words against the Most High — that it is a per- 
secuting power, aiming to exterminate by long and 
bloody wars all the pious and holy people from the! 
face of the earth — that it is a power which delights! 
in blood, inventive of every species of cruelty and 
torture, aiming to "wear out the saints of the MostI 
High" — thatitwould, for forty-two months, a time 
times and the dividing of time, that is, in plain Eng- 
lish, for twelve hundred and sixty years, prevail gen- 
erally against the saints, who would be delivered in- 
to its power, and that it would endeavor to change- 
times and laws which God himself had appointed. 
By the showing of the Prophet, therefore, this lit- 
tle HORN of this great sea-monster, is taken to rep- 
resent a government arising among the ten king- 
doms of the fractured Roman Empire, which claims 
the honors and titles of a religions institution, a 
politico-religious government. By the figures and 
synfibols of the whole scenic representation, we are 
necessarily bound within the Roman Empire and to 
that point in its history when the Barbarians made 
their incursions and gave the Beast a deadly wound 
by their swords, from which, however, it recovered 
in the days and by the power of Charlemagne, " and 
did live." 6 These figures and dates carry us down 
to the first half of the seventh century of the Chris- 
tian era; and here we must seek to identify the Lit- 
tle Horn. We have no option to go any where else. 
We must look among the ten kingdoms for an elev- 

b Rev. xiii. 



170 TKE NEW FLIGHT. 

enthone which swallowed up three of the ten anfi 
thenceforward stoodas the eighth, but different from 
them all, religious, superstitious, cruel, blasphemous'^ 
After the fall of three kings, there remained of 
course but seven of the ten, this Horn of Daniel 
having absorbed them, which is itself a beast in the 
ilanguage of John, The apostle says, "There are 
seven kings" after the rise of the beast he is descri- 
bing, (for if we can understand him, he is speaking 
of the same things with Daniel,) "and the bea&t 
that was, and is not" (that is, the Little Horn,) even 
he is the eighth, and is of the seven," that is, made 
up from them and yet distinct, "and goeth into per- 
dition." c The Ihree horns that fell before the Lit- 
tle Horn were these, the exarchate of Ravenna, 
which was given to the Pope of Rome by Pepin one 
of the kings of France; the kingdom of the Lom- 
bards, which Charlemagne conveyed to the see of 
Rome; and the State of Rome as a temporal juris- 
diction, which was confirmed to his Holiness by 
Lewis the Pious, and which he possesses to this 
day. 

But in order fully to make out what this Little 
Horn is, I will sum up the several traits of its char- 
acter. 

L It grew out of the head of the Roman Em- 
pire, the last and greatest dominion on the earth. 
It did not spring up at Babylon, or among the Medo- 
Persians, or Grecians. It is Roman in its parentage 
-^ — emphatically ffio772an, and nothing but Roman. 

2. But it did not arise among the Romans du- 
ring the infancy of that government, aoryet in the 

c Rev. xvii. ,11. 



ON ANTI-CH>RIST. 171 

dsys of its greatest glory and splendor, but in its 
decline and after its territories had been divided 
among ten kings. 

3. The government symbolized by the Little 
Horn was an entirely new and unheard of affair — it 
differed in its objects and designs from all the ten 
kingdoms by which it was surrounded. Professing 
lo hate the world it grasped at kingdoms, and in a 
short time absorbed three, and stood, peculiar and 
new, the eighth horn of this sea-monster. 

4. It claimed for itself more than ever had been 
claimed by any State, Kingdom, or Empire. It 
spoke great things in the person of its head. He 
claimed divine authority and honor. He spoke 
against God and man, and claimed titles which be- 
long only to the maker of heaven and earth. 

5. It made war upon th(^best portions of the hu- 
man race. If there was a good man found under the 
dominions of this Horn^he was hunted and persecu- 
ted to death, if he did not subscribe to the infalli- 
bility and authority of the mitred poniifex maxi- 
mus. 

6. It was to prevail for many centuries, and 
would be u persecuting power during the whole his- 
tory of its continuance. Its name is wTitten in 
blood! It wore out the saints by fire, sword, and 
all the dark and cruel deeds of inquisitorial demons. 

7. It was to change times and laws by disregard- 
ing those of divine appointment and instituting oth- 
ers from beggarly traditions. This it did in a thou- 
sand instances, the gloomy proofs of which we have 
io this day in nearly every country under heaven. 



172 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Feasts and fasts, and mummeries without number, 
may be seen as thick as the frogs of Egypt and as 
black as its darkness. 

8. The prophet regards the fortunes of this 
horn till he sees it consumed, and the very Beast on 
whose head it was, because of the things uttered by 
the horn, is given to the burning flame. Men of 
piety are foreseen as rising up against the deeplaid 
encroachments of this tyranny, and "takeaway his 
dominion to consume and destroy it to the end." 
But if the war of mind upon mind, if the efforts of 
reformers, should be able to do no more than crip- 
ple the powers of the horn, the prophet assures us 
that when the judgment shall sit, and one like the 
Son of Man shall come with the clouds of heaven, 
the firey stream that shall antecede his presence, 
will make an utter end of the mouth and eyes and 
body of this eleventh and eighth horn, this mon* 
strous compound of all that is cruel in government 
and hypocritical in religion. 

By this analysis I have conducted the reader safely 
to one conclusion which no sensible and ingenuous 
person can avoid, namely, that the Little Horn of 
Daniel's prophecy is the Antichrist of the New 
Testament, and that Antichrist is that great aposlacy 
from the Christian Church now commonly termed 
Romanism or Roman Catholicism. Flung off* as a 
faction from the Greek church, it arose to power 
and splendor, authority and wealth, till, gathering 
strength from the ignorance and credulity of man- 
kind, it became the despot of the world, and the day 
of its glory was the shame of the human race.— 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 173 

Other prophets besides Daniel predicted the advent 
of this revolting power; but we relj on the above 
passage as a conclusive identification of the Little 
Horn with the system of Romanism. 

In conclusion, may I not appeal to the above pre- 
diction as an indubitable proof of the inspiration of 
Daniel? He could not have guessed or conjectured 
so shrewdly and so particularly, of such powers and 
such events in the coming history of the world. We 
may point to Romanism, dark as it is, and say, Be- 
hold the proof of the inspiration of the holy Proph- 
ets! 



CHAPTER Xni. 

Antichrist defined — Different acceptationG of tlie Term — Eight 
characteristics of the predicted Antichrist — lie was to come in 
the Last Period — He is an Apostacy — Forbids Marriage — I>e- 
nies certain ]\leats — Creates Tables — Is supremely Covetous — 
Maintains a form of Godliness — Denies the Father and Son, 
and is the Source of Skepticism and Sectarianism — Romanism 
proved to be the predicted Antichrist. 

Having proved, in the preceding chapter, that 
the Little Horn of Daniel is the Antichrist of the 
New Testament, it may be proper for the sake of 
those who may still doubt the conclusions to which 
we there conducted the reader, to demonstrate by 
the Apostles the same thing, namely, that Roman- 
ism is the Antichrist of John, and the Man of Sin 
predicted bj Paul. Having performed this service, 



1:74 THE NEW tlGHT.^ 

we wiirthen show that Romanism is the Antichrist^^ 
By facts in its history which cannot be disputedv 

Antichrist is a term which occurs only in the 
general Epistles of John. We have the following 
in* his first Epistle: ''Little children, it is the last 
time: and as ye have heard that the antichrist shall 
come, even now are there many antichrists \ where- 
by we know it is the last time. They went out from 
us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of 
us they would have continued with us: but they 
went out that Ihey might be made manifest that 
they were not all of us.'' a Again, " Who is a liar,^ 
but he that dcnieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is 
«7i/2€Am; that denieth the Father and the Son," ^^ 
Again, '' Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God: and this^ 
is that spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heardi 
that it should come, and even rrow already is it in- 
the world, "^c Finally, John says'' Many deceivers^ 
are entered into the world, who confess not that Je- 
sus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver 
and an antichrist" c/ From these three passages the 
following three particulars are deducible: 

I. That the primitive Christians had been faith- 
fully warned of the nigh approach of Antichrists 
They had without doubt learned the fact from thc^ 
Jewish prophets in the first place, and then from 
the less ambiguous disclosures of Jesus himself and 
of the apostles. Most faithfully had Jesus predicted 
to his disciples the false christs and false prophets 
that would arise previous to the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. But antichrists were of two kinds: one class 

•a 1 John ii. L8| 19, b IMin ii. 22. c \ John iv. 2.- d 2 John T^ 



ON ^Kl'1-CHItIST. 175 

were those who affected to be christs^, thus taking hi& 
place and offices; the others were false teachersr- 
who opposed his doctrinesi Of both classes the 
saints had been faithfully warned; and the apostles^ 
expected to witness some such apostacies in their 
own times. 

2. That an an^z'eAm/is an individual person who^ 
may either by word or deed deny Jesus Christ, Such , 
spirits were already numerous in the days of John* 
They were apostates: they had left the communion' 
of the saints, or, in the language of another apostle^ 
they '• separated themselves/' and were ''^sensual, 
having not the Spirit.'^ The character of these 
men is drawn to the life by Paul in the following 
sentence: ^^ They profess that they know God, but 
in works deny him, being abominable and disobedi- 
ent, and unto every good work reprobate." e Such 
is an individual antichrist, whatever may be his pro- 
fession of sanctity, charity, and of benevolence. 

3. That there is, nevertheless, what the apostle 
here styles /Ae antichrist^ which is a term, a mode of 
expression inapplicable to any one individual person^- 
and must therefore mean a whole community under 
some species of government. To all which we may 
add the fact, although there were antichrists in the 
world so early as the days of the apostles, John 
seems clearly to confess^ that the antichrist himself 
had not yet appeared. As John here terms a very , 
large company of men antichrist^ in the singular, 
confessing that there were already antichrists, in the 
plural; so Paul (in a passage to be examined pres- 
ently) calls the sama community^ " the man of sin'^ 

e Tit. i. 16. 



176 THE NEW LIGHT. 

In the singular, allowing at the sanne time that the 
hnystery of iniquity was already at work annong his 
botemporaries. These apostles beautifully harmo- 
nize both as to the inception of the young antichrist 
in their day, and his full development in after times. 
They are both prophets portraying beforehand the 
darkest night in the history of the world, with all its 
designs of spiritual wickedness and heaven-insulting 
abominations. 

But I pass to other passages. — 

'•Now the Spirit speaketh expressly," snys Paul, 
•that in the latter times some shall depart from the 
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and to doc- 
trines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having 
their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding 
to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats 
which God hath created to be received with thanks- 
giving of them who believe and know the truth." f- — 
To the above may be added the following — ''For 
the timenvill come when they will not endure sound 
doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap 
up to themselves teachers according to their own 
lusts: and they shall turn away their ears from the 
tralh, and shall be turned unto fables. "g- — ''This 
know also, that in the last days perilous times shall 
come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, 
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient 
to parents, unthankful, unholj, without natural af- 
fection, trucebrakers, false accusers-, incontinent, 
fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, 
heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than 
lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but de- 
f 1 Tim, iv. 1—3. ^2 Tim. iv. 3. 4. 



ON ANTICHRIST* 177 

nying the power thereof; from such turn away. For 
of this sort are they that t:reep into houses and lead 
captive silly women laden with sins, led away with 
divers lusts: ever learning and never able to come to 
the knowledge of the truth. ISow as Jannes and 
Jambres withstood Moses, so do these resist the truth; 
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 
But they shall proceed no farther; for their folly shall 
be manifest to all men, as theirs also was.'^ h 

To all this we add the testimony of Peter: "But 
there were also falsje prophets among the people^ 
€ven as there shall be false teachers among you, 
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even 
denying the Lord that bought ihem, and bring upon 
themselves swift destruction. And many shall fol- 
low. their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the 
way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through 
covetousness shall they with feigned w^ords make 
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a 
long time lingereth not, and their damnation slum* 
liereth not."e From these most clear and pointed 
predictions we may make out the following features 
of the great Antichrist, that worse than heathen 
power which has done and is doing such infinite dis- 
grace to the cause of religion and virtue. 

1. Antichrist was to make his appearance in the 
Last Period of the w^orld. It is evident that the 
gospel dispensation is the last secular period. The 
first secular period lasted from the creation to the 
flood. The second, from the flood till the giving of 
the Law at Sinai. The third, from the giving of 
the Law till its abrogation by the death and resur- 
12 h2Tira.iu. 1--9. i 2 Pet. ii. 1—3. 



178 THE NEW LiaET. 

rectioR of the Messiah, or introdiictioii of the gos- 
pel. The fourth and firml period reaches from the 
introduction of the gospel till the conclusion of sec- 
ular history, when a new, universal, and spiritual 
Empire, without sin, will be organized under the 
Messiah, who, at the end of this period, will return 
to the earth to institute the Day of Judgment. It 
seems that this mighty antagonism of Christianity^ 
Antichrist, was viewed by the apostles as existing 
during almost the whole time of the gospel! The 
mystery of his iniquity began its labors under the 
very eye of the apostles, and is not finally and fully 
abolished till the second appearing of the Son of 
Man. What a prodigious pawer, and how long the 
Warfare of the saints! 

2. Another part of the predicted charaetep of 
Antichrist is, it is an apostacy from the faith under 
a profession of godliness. Successfully to carry on 
the cheat, lies mgst be spo-ken in hypocrisy; doc- 
trines concerning demons must be introduced; and a 
systematic scheme of miracles and canonization ^f 
saints must be carried on to deceive the ignorant 
and unsuspecting. The consciences of the leaders 
in this odious league of darkness and of death, 
must be quieted by palliatives and anodynes, till 
they become as the skins of sharks, or as flesh baked 
and seared with a hot iron! Having thus become 
past feeling, Antichrist 

3. Forbids marriage to the most sacred persons 
under his reign, the priests superior and inferior. 
Thousands of these polluted villian^ nevertheless, 
enter into houses and lead away silly women j^ or at 



ox ANTI-CHRIST. 179 

the conjessional propose questions the scum on the 
surfaces of which it would be a shame to stir with 
the most delicate words! There is no power on 
earth but Romanism that fills, or has ever filled this 
picture. Her priesthood is here identified with the 
Antichrist of the last Period; nor is there a Jesuit 
who can eel out of the unenviable predicament. 

4. Abstinence from meats is a farther character- 
istic of Antichrist. Who has not heard of Lent 
and all its observances? Certain meats which God 
created to be received with gratitude, are proscribed 
to the devotees of this ghostly power: from whence 
arises the most enormous system of falsehood and 
hypocrisy. At certain seasons it is unlawful to eat 
pork, but fish may be eaten: and the old mode of 
turning pork into fish, is not altogether an unlikely 
experiment among Catholics, namely, b}; immersing 
pieces of pork in water and then catching them as 
it were fishes! '-Go down gammon, come up salm- 
on!'' may pretty justly represent the modes of get- 
ting something to eat in Lent! 

5. It was predicted that Antichrist would turn 
away from ihe truth, the word of God, and be turned 
unto fables. This portrait is completely filled by 
the hundreds of fables which we see, and with 
which everybody is familiar, in the system of Ro- 
manism. The subjects of the pope have their fab- 
ulous ^ae^i/^, their fabulous traditions^ their fabulous 
doctrines^ their fabulous rites and ceremonies^ and 
even i'a.h\x\o\xs prayers ^i\A. invocations! What are 
many renowned names of saints but fables, many of 
whom never had an existen<:e on earth or anywhere 



180 THE NEW LIGHT. 

else? What are their numerous pretended miracles 
but so many fables? What is auricular confession 
but a fable? Purgatory is a notorious fable, and all 
their means of delivering souls from it are foolish 
and impious fables. The juass^ which they say is a 
real sacrifice for sins, is a heaven-daring fable. Tran- 
substantiation, wherein the priest says he creates 
his creator by turning bread and wine into the body 
and blood, soul and divinity of Christ, is not only a 
fable, but the grossest and most brutalising of all fa- 
bles! What is the doctrine of apostolic succession 
but a fable as unfounded as the wildest dream? 
Rosaries, Relics, indulgences, prayers to and for the 
dead, holy water, chrism, salt and spittle, exorcisms, 
together with all the hooding, surplicing, belling, 
candleing, bowing, scraping, kneeling, gabbling and 
mumbling in a thousand ways, are fables, emphati- 
cally fables^ and unworthy of the name or house of 
God. Romanists have not only left the w^ord of 
God, the tru'h, and have multiplied to an infinite 
extent the above and scores of other fables, but they 
have proscribed and repudiated the i ible, and will 
not suffer it, as a general rule, to be read by their 
people, only <is it is diluted and glossed by 
themselves in partial translations and Jesuitical 
notes! — Such was the picture of Antichrist as drawn 
by the apostles. Where shall we look to find the 
monster itself, but into that community now known 
as RomQ7iism? We can find it nowhere under 
heaven but there; and there we find it grown up to 
manhood; there we find 'it hoary with age; there 
we find it doating upon fables and pained with the 
signs of approaching dissolution. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 18l 

6. But as if the foregoing picture were not well 
enough defined, Paul adds other nnarks and features. 
Antichrist more especially was foretold as a proud, 
imperious, self loving, bargain-breaking, and, to com- 
prehend all in a great generic term, a covetous eccle- 
siastical power. And where shall we find the boas- 
ting blasphemers who can disregard the most sacred 
treaties and stipulations made with reputed heretics? 
Where shall we find a power that carries all points 
with money; that pretends to grani indulgences 
with it, and by its more than talismanic power to lib- 
erate souls from the pains and penalties of hell? 
Where shall we find the great merchant that deals 
in the bodies and souls of men as his lawlul mer- 
chandise? Where shall we look for the despisers of 
aft the good and holy of all time? Where shall we 
look for the heady, the high minded, the lovers of 
pleasure more than the lovers of God, for the fierce, 
ioB the incontinent, for the violators ot treaties and 
safe-conducts, for the cruel and unfeeling, for the 
authors of fables without number and martyrdoms 
to the score of more than fifty millions? Where but 
to the, system of Romanism, as it stands out on the 
page of history, and whose murderous and b/oody 
steps cannot be hid b/^her best and most learned 
apologists? You may trace her over the nations of 
the earth by her gory foot-prints, as readily as we 
follow the bear or panther in the new-fallen snow. 
She eats and digest her own god; and no marvel 
that her bloody and insatiable genius fattens on the 
blood of saints. 

?• In the midst of all his lecheries and abomina* 



182 THE NEW LIGHT. 

tions, Antichrist, it was predicted, would still main- 
tain a form of godliness but deny its power. To 
fill up every line of this picture, we have but to look 
at Romanism as seen in this country and in all coun- 
tries. With that system there is little besides form 
and ceremony. The people do not pretend to hide 
their immoralities. They are constantly taught by 
their priests, but never, as a general result, come to 
the knowledge of the truth. The priests have made 
the word of God of no effect by their traditions*. 
They constantly resist the truth. Their forms are 
positively detrimental to and subversive of the en- 
trance of the truth into the mind. Steeled thu^ 
against the finer moral feelings, pampered by wealth, 
and secured by the fancied power of indulgences, 
hundreds of priests run into the most flagitious^ 
crimes and excesses. Even a pope once boasted of 
the great number of his illegitimate children! Tru- 
ly, did Paul say, "Of this sort are they who creej> 
into houses!" They are like Jannes and Jambres 
who.withstood Moses in Egypt: but their doom is^ 
written by the pencil of truth. 

8. Another characteristic of Antichrist drawn 
by Peter is this: That cruel power was not only to 
make merchandise of the people, but would rise inta 
great popularity in the world. Nor was this all. 
While many should follow the pernicious ways of 
this apostacy, that apostacy itself would deny the 
Lord Jesus Christ who had bought in order to save 
mankind. This apostacy would also consist in part 
in the introduction of ruinous heresies or divisions^ 
destructive sects, called in our version, "damnable 



- ©a A1>JTI-CHRIST. 183 

feer<>siesJ" Sut where shall we find that Antichrist 
who denies the Father and the Son, "the Lord that 
bought" the human race? That power, that apos- 
tacy, that antichrist, is fearful, bloody, gloomy Ho- 
manism! X^at system denies the Father and the 
Son, by denying or perverting faith in Christ, and 
€very institution of religion. The dictrinesof Pur- 
gatory, transubstantiation, the mass, &:c. &c. are 
virtual if not direct denials of Jesus Christ. While 
therefore Romanists hold and claim the name of the 
Christian Church, the nature of the institution is 
that of Antichrist, and must be so regarded be all 
good and reasonable men. Besides, the Romanist 
church, is the centre and source, the prolific mother 
and fountain of sectarianism. She is made up of 
numerous sects, many of which are deadly foes to 
each other. And she has become the occasion of 
sectarianism among Protestants. She is the mother 
of every ecclesiastical harlot that has ever lived in 
lechery with the kings of. the earth. Her sects, her 
perversions of faith, her relics, her doctrines, her 
saints, her miracls, her cruelties, her lies — in a word 
— all that she is, or has been, or will be, are so many 
voices saying for herself what the apostle has said of 
her, SHE DENIES THE LoRD OF OLORY, if WO may 
speak of her as a woman, and is the Antichrist that 
was to come, if we speak of P.omanism under the 
figure of a man. The way of truth has been evil 
spoken of for ages because of the works and ways 
of this \ntichrist; and fearful is the doom of the 
blood drunken Monster! While he is saying peace 
and safety, glorying in his wealth and power, and 



184 THE NEW LIGHT. 

would even now if he could act over again the dark 
and blood J deeds of former years; the arm of divine 
vengeance is already lifted up, and unlingering judg- 
ment and unslumbering damnation are almost ready 
to annihilate him from the earth ! 



CHAPTER XIV^ 

Paul's Prediction of the Man of Sin — The Prophecy considered 
and analyzed— ^Names of the Sinful Monster — Man of Sin 
proved to be Antichnst — Antichrist proved to be Romanism, by 
Three characteristics; The Name; The Nature; The Destiny. 
— Remarks in Concliasion, 

Op ali^ the prophets under the gospel, Paul is 
generally the most diffuse and clear. We have al- 
ready seen in.how forcible a manner, and to the life 
and in detail, he has drawn the character of Anti- 
christ: and history, faithful to the task, has recorded 
and chronicled for ever that portrait as identical 
with the Roman church. But there remains yet an- 
other prophecy of Paul, which because it is so re- 
markable, so particular, and combines so many and 
such various points of identification, is worthy of a 
distinct consideration. I will transcribe the whole 
passage. 

^'Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering togeth- 
er unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or 
be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 185 

letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
Let no man deceive you by any means: for, except 
there come a fvlling away tirst, and that man of 
SIN be revealed, the son of perdition, who oppo- 
seth and exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped — so that he as God sit- 
teth in the Temple of God, showing himself that he 
is God — [that day cannot come,"] "Remember ye 
not, that, when 1 was with you, I told you these 
things? And now ye know what withholdeth that 
he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery 
of iniquity doth already work: only he who now 
hindereth, will hinder, until he be taken out of the 
way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, 
whom the Lord shall consifme with the spirit of his 
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his 
coming: even him whose coming is after the work- 
ing of Satan with all power and signs and lying 
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteous- 
ness in them that perish; because they received not 
the love of the truth that they might be saved. And 
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, 
that they should believe a lie: that they all might 
be damned who believed not the truth, but had 
pleasure in unrighteousness.*^ a 

Here, then, is a monster of wickedness described 
without a parable, and is without a parallel in the 
history of human affairs. We must look carefully 
into the above passage to ascertain who or what this 
wicked one is, that we may determine whether 
the history of the church has presented any thing 
like it. 

a 2 Thess. ii. 1—12. 



186 THE NEW LIGHT. 

1, The apostle assures the Thessalonians that 
the day of Christ cannot come until after the full de- 
velopment of this power of giant wickedness. He 
allays their anxieties on that score. 

2. The names given to this power show it to be 
nothing other than the Antichrist, having for its 
head an earthly potentate claiming universal juris- 
diction. The name of the whole defection is an 
APOSTACY or falling away. Another name is, indica- 
ting the head of the apostacy, that man of sin, the 
EON OF perdition. As if these terms were too weak 
to express the whole of this odious character, Paul 
styles it "the mystery of iniquity, and 'that 
WICKED ONE," as if the devil incarnate were sitting for 
his likeness! Now the term aiilichrht could not 
more specifically express all that is opposed to 
Christ, than the names here employed by the apos- 
tle, It is therefore perfectly certain and clear that 
the christian prophet here designs to draw the char- 
acter of Antichrist. The antichrists described by 
John are mentioned as apostates owning in word the 
doctrine of Christ, but in works denying both it and 
him. But as all apostacies from the truth are wick- 
ed, this power is described as a supremely wicked 
power. The apostacy was predicted not as a fall- 
ing away from Judaism, but from Christianity; so 
that we must look for it under the christian name, 
and under no other. Nor can we suppose that it 
will call itself Antichrist: its true name must be 
sought in the scriptures, and its true character in 
prophecy and history. Whoever it is that exalteth 
himsell above all that is called God, or that is wor- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 187 

shipped, he it is who is Antichrist; for in that way, 
whatever may be his external profession, he denies 
the Father and the Son. 

3. The power here predicted is a religious, and 
not wholly a political power. The Man of sin sits 
in the Temple or church of God,, claiming honor 
and homage from the multitude. He is not a Ma- 
hommedan or Heathen or Jew. He affects v-the 
christian and the saint. We must look for him, 
therefore, in christian countries — we must search 
for his titles among the early Bishops, Metropolit- 
ans and Patriarchs. In quest of him we cannot 
transcend the limits of Christendom. And we find 
him in the pope and his church. We can find him 
nowhere else under heaven^ so long as we regard 
this prophecy as dictated by the Holy Ghost. 

4. The fourth and last item to be mentioned, is 
not an internal characteristic of the" man of sin,'' 
hut simply a prediction of his fortunes: the apostle 
foretells, that he shall be consumed by the spirit of 
the Lord's mouth, und destroyed by the brightness 
of the advent of Jesus. This is a fearful doom, and 
demands much of our attention in this work. An 
opposing power erected against chri-tianity, and for 
many centuries bearing even its name — the dark 
antagonism which has prevented the conversion of 
the world — the prolific mother of skepticism and 
divisions— the fruitful cause of so many wars and so 
much bloodshed, of persecutions innumerable, of 
crimes without names or parallels under any other 
dynasty of any other name: — if it cannot be fully 
consumed (and it seems that it cannot) by the spirit 



18S THE NEW LIGHT. 

of the liOrd's mouth, the gospel, deserves to be an- 
nihilated by the Divine Monarch when he shall de- 
scend to take possession of universal empire. And 
this shall be done! Heaven and earth shall fight 
against Romanism! 

In order to identify PauFs " Man of Sin ^' with 
the Roman church, a brief recapitulation of the fore- 
going f(3atures is all that is necessary. This shall be 
attempted in three sections. 

§1. The names of the Monster. — "The man of 
sin," "that wicked One,'^ "the son of perdition,'' 
are characters and attributes so marked and distinct 
that we cannot fail to see them in the history of the 
times to which the apostle alludes. Add to this the- 
religious or rather impious characteristic of the 
Aposiacy^ and the picture is complete and cannot be 
hid. Then the question rises. Where shall we find 
the power here predicted, and by what names is it 
known in history? The question may be solved in 
a short way by the Bible student: should he say, 
That power is Romanism^ the whole Protestant 
world would concur with one voice. But the care- 
ful inquirer demands reasons for this conclusion. 
The demand is just and must be gratified. 

In the first place, then, if we have any just notions 
of what true chrii^tianitj^ is, or ought to be, we de- 
rive them from the doctrine taught by our Lord and 
his apostles. They inculcated peace on earth; they 
taught the forgiveness of injuries; they proclaimed 
as from the housetop the perfect equality of all the 
brotherhood as to all spiritual privileges and enjoy- 
ments; they discarded and discountenanced the am- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 189 

bitious spirit that would create one of their number 
into ahead or master of the rest; they recommend- 
ed and praised all the suffering virtues, utterly for- 
bidding all reaching after temporal honors and 
emoluments, earthly grandeur and pomp; and they 
exemplified in their lives the precepts they incul- 
cated. 

In the second place, if we know any thing of 
what the christian churches even under the immedi- 
ate eye and care of the apostles, it is certain that 
those cliurches foimded by those extraordinary min- 
isters, were as near right in point of constitution and 
order, as any other congregations. Nay, may we 
not assert that they were not only right, but model 
churches? What means have we of knowing when 
a church is rightly constituted, but by conforming it 
to the model churches of the apostles? And how 
shall we determine what is christian doctrine but by 
consulting the sermons and writings of those' men 
who were commissioned of heaven to promulgate 
Christianity among mankind? 

Now if, respecting the doctrine of Christ and his 
apostles, we consult that which pretends to be it (for 
it is a pretending power of which Paul is here speak- 
ing) among the oracles of Romanism, are we not im- 
mediately smitten most sensibly with the difference? 
Dowesqe as a general characteristic of Romanism, 
the plain and unvarnished truths of the unpretend- 
ing Jesus and his humble fishermen? Nay, has not 
Rome invented many new precepts and doctrines 
which were utterly unknown to the Founder of the 
christian religion? Where were Penance, Orders, 



190 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Confirmation, Indulgences, Rosaries, Ane MaHag, 
Purgatories, Auricular confession, and a hundred 
similar rites and ceremonies, doctrines and precepts, 
with transubstantiation and all its kindred supersti- 
tions, impieties and abominations,— where were they, 
we ask, in the days of the apostles? and the answer 
is, they did not exist! The man of sin made them 
from the fecundity of his own restless brain, as Rom- 
ists themselves are compelled to confess! 

And touching church order and organization, gov- 
ernment, and the relations of congregations towards 
each other; how does the church of Rome compare 
with that at Jerusalem, and with the other primitive 
churches among the Gentiles? Is there any thing 
like similitude? lias ftot an entirely new order 
been introduced which bears scarcely the remotest 
analogy to the primitive organizations? The reader 
of the Bible and of history must come to the conclu- 
sion, thai if apostolic Christianity were the true one, 
Romanism is a false one^ if one were genuine, ihe 
other is counterfeit; if the one were Christ, theoth- 
er is Antichrist. The differences as to doctrine, 
church order, and organization, are infinitely tco nu- 
merous, various and essential, to allow of the iden- 
tification of the two institutions. They are as wide 
apart as the poles, as different as light and darkness, 
as^incompatible as virtue and vice, as irreconcilable 
as heaven and hell. Both prophecy and history 
confirm the allegation, and the observant among 
men require not another proof. All that could have 
been meant by the "man of sin,'^ " the son of perdi- 
tion/' "the wicked one," "the apostacy," (fcc. has 



ON ANTI-CHRTST, 191 

been to the life exemplified by the Roman ehurch in 
the wars she has waged for secular dominion; in her 
persecutions of the wise and good; in her most un- 
just councils and their bloody anathemas; in her 
treacheries and lies; on her infinite fables, legends, 
and pretended miracles; and in her inquisitorial per- 
suit of any who were suspected as wanting in feaUy 
to the supreme pontiff. If among men it is treason 
to set up new hiws, or to attempt by any means to 
supersede established order in a State; by what 
name shall we call that sin which makes new laws 
for Jehovah, displaces the original govenors appoin- 
ted by him, nullifies the precepts of the divine, law 
by an incubus of traditions, and subsidizes heaven 
earth and hell to advance the interests and ghostly 
pomp of one who has usurped the Temple of God? 
This adventurer is truly 'Hhe son of perdition !" And 
the infallible finger of prophecy pointing to the tow- 
ers of the Vatican, says to the Pope on his throne, 
^' Thou art the man T "Every name of enormous 
sin found in the tissue of prophecy, finds in the pope 
and in his church its local habitation, and history 
shows that they have literally filled up the measure 
of abominations so clearly predicted. Let any one 
who is curious in this way take up and read the his- 
tory of Romanism, and he will find that it is the his- 
tory of sin; and not that merely, but the history of 
the grossest and most heaven daring sins that have 
been committed since the world began. 

From the terms used and the great prominence as- 
signed to this antagonism of Christianity in the 
prophecy, we infer that it would be Rot onlj a great 



192 THE NEW LIGHT, 

Sinner, or, as it were, the very incarnation of sin^ 
but that its sins would be that of an apostate who 
would nevertheless affect to be all that the name it 
claimed imports. From all that is said in the pre- 
prediction it is evident that what the apostle terms 
an apostacy^ woula arrogate to itself and hold the 
name of that from which it apostatized : not only so, 
but that it would claim titles and powers, privileges 
and dominions over and above the original commu- 
nity from which it was a defection. It appears 
moreover, that it would affect to reign and rule in 
the name of the Lord, or that it would commit its 
whole circle of sin by an authority which it would 
declare to be derived from God himself. And one 
who is skillful in the Scriptures can make all this 
out by the teims and figures of the passage under 
consideration — which brings us to an important 
point in our subject. 

That important point is this: — Taking in the 
whole history of the church from apostolical times 
to the nineteenth century, the revolutions of dynas- 
ties, the rise, reigns and falls of all species of powers, 
there has not risen on the face of the earth such a 
power as Paul here develops, if Romanism be not 
that power. Mohammedism is utterly out of the 
question; for that had not begun to exist in the 
days of the Apostles. Besides, it cannot be called 
an aposiacxj^ for it has its own name, and is professed- 
ly a rival institution. Mohammedism does not pre- 
tend to sit in the temple or chuch of God; and if 
it did, the christian world cannot believe the claim. 
Nor does Mohammedism claim the power of mira. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 193 

cles — even the prophet himself pretended to none, 
and his followers have claimed none for him: — I sup- 
pose his visions and revelations will hardly be judged 
as miracles performed by him, hut simply as wonder- 
ful manifestations made io him. Mohammedism 
never invested its leaders with the names of God- 
head, of universal monarch, of the Lord God on 
earth, or of the creator of the Creator. With all 
its sins, the religion of Mahomet is a mild and hum- 
ble affair compared with that of Gregory, Boniface, 
and their successors. Mahomet did not lay his hand 
on purgatory and command imprisoned souls to leap 
out of its flames at the clink of dollars. He did 
not aim so high as to remit all sins, past present and 
future, of his favorites, though men of blood and 
stained with every crime. He did notinderdict na- 
tions and absolve subjects of their alliance to kings. 
Mahomet never transacted the high-handed iniquity 
here predicted by Paul. The reign of the Moslem 
fails to fill up the picture in the cardinal attributes 
of character, so that we are compelled to look some- 
where else. We cannot look at the Greek church 
as to a distinct power, and omit the Roman: for, as 
every one knows, the Roman is a daughter of the 
Greek, as we hinted before. Before the quarrels 
which eventuated in a schism, there was no Greek 
or Roman church, as such: the schism drew the 
lines distinctly, which remain to the present times. 
But the Roman church increased mightily beyond 
the Greek, till it spread over the best and most pop- 
ulous portions of the world, and many kings and no- 
bles did obeisance to it, in order either to gain or re- 
13 



194 TM2J NEW LiaUt. 

tain their crowns and lordships. Kings ruled the 
people, and the pope ruled kings. He was in fact 
king of kings; he lorded it over lords, and aspired 
to be the God of God Almighty. Never, since the 
Flood, or before it, was there such another power 
on earth as that which was in the bosom of Roman-' 
ism! Its name is written, Antichrist^ son of perdi- 
tioriy mystery oj iniquity^ that wicked one^ the man 
of sin! "He opposeth," says Paul, (and this is hi» 
character as Antichrist,) "and exalteth himself 

ABOVE ALL THAT IS CALLED GoD OR THAT IS WOR- 
SHIPPED!" Tremendous assumptions! Such as fol- 
lowed the pope could not worship God. In effect, 
therefore, the Romanist power is the power of athe- 
ism, denying the Father and the Son. The follow- 
ing are some of the maxims of Gregory VII. "The 
Pope alone can wear the imperial ornaments — All 
princes are to kiss his foot, and pay that mark of 
distinction to him alone — It is lawful for him to de- 
pose emperors — No man can reverse his judgment, 
but he can reverse all other judgments— He is to be 
judged by no man— No man shall presume to con- 
demn the person who appeals to the Apostolic See — 
The Roman church has never erred, nor will she ev- 
er err, according to Scripture-^The Pope can ab- 
solve subjects from the oath of allegiance which 
they have taken to a bad prince,'' <fec. &c. — So much 
for the names and assumed powers of the man of 
sin, which is Antichrist, which is Romanism. 

§ II. The assumed religious character of the Mow 
ster. — That is a monster in nature which has more 
heads, or horns, or hands, &c. than belong original- 



02f ANTI-CHRIST. 195 

ly to the species, or that has any of its parts or limbs 
in undue proportion to the rest, or that is not dis- 
tinct in what is necessary to sex, or that is wanting 
in any of the attributes necessary to the individual, 
whether man or beast. That is a monster which in 
any way transcends the laws of its being. Hence 
we have sometimes monsters in the vegetable and 
animal, and frequently in the intellectual and moral 
kingdoms. There are laws for every department of 
nature and for every thing under heaven. The uni* 
verse itself, as a whole, is bound to the throne of 
God by the law of universal gravitation. 

The spiritual empire, or all that which we call the 
moral world, is under law to God: and the great 
law which is the mother and fountain of every pos* 
itive enactment, and which is presupposed by the 
mere existence of any other law, is the law of love, 
which, were it obej'^ed throughout the earth, would 
turn the world into paradise, earth into heaven. 
^'Thoushalt love the Lord thy God with all ihy 
heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all 
thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself,'^ is the law 
of heaven. Nor is there another for the family of 
man. Whatever was said in the Jewish law, or 
propounded by the inspired prophets; whatever was 
said by the Lord, or echoed by his apostles, was but 
a development of this grand and heavenly law of 
love. The christian religion itself is based on and 
grows out of it. Hence, this divine system shaped 
into form and partaking of the nature of law, knows 
its own limits and boundaries. In short, God pro- 
posed Christianity to the world, but made men to 



196 THE NEW LIGHT. 

understand just what it was, what it required of 
them, what was forbidden, what they must do in or- 
der to receive the pardon of sins, and what must be 
done towards the obtainment of eternal life. In 
short, Christianity at the time of its publication 
among men, was as well defined in reference to its 
several moral features, as were the physical organs 
and whole corporeity of the original man when he 
came nascent from the hands of his Creator, And 
to this day, by means of an univocal record which 
describes it, the features of the whole christian sys- 
tem can be drawn to the mind of the devout and 
unprejudiced reader. It is a whole, a perfect, a di- 
vine system. 

Now, let the reader imagine to himself a Christi- 
anity which transcends the laws of the original insti- 
tution; which offers prayers not offered by primitive 
christians; which institutes rites not instituted by 
the apostles, or which were unknown to the Found- 
er of the christian religion; which originates and 
enforces a long and gloomy list of fables and frauds; 
which affects to convert a wafer into the body and 
blood, soul and divinity, of Jesus Christ, and offers 
him afresh a thousand times as an offering for sin; 
which transforms a mortal woman into a heavenly 
intercessor, and adores her as '-the mother of Go,d;'^ 
which places at its head an erring man, clothes him 
with infallibility, and then worships him as prince of 
the apostles, Christ's vicegerent, and the prince of 
kings and lords; which sells heaven for money, blots 
out hell and purgatory for a deed of charity, and 
binds angels, men and devils by the spell of an as- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST, 197 

sumed omnipotence; which abrogates apostolic cus- 
toms, changes divine times and laws, and creates at 
will rites, laws and inquisitions; which claims uni- » 
versal empire that its head and chiefs may revel in 
luxury and reduce to submission all who may oppose 
the wild demands of its Pontifex Maximus or his 
college of advisors; and which, to say no more, 
thwarts in a thousand ways the saving power of the 
truth it professes, and makes infidels of philosophers, 
dolts of peasants, and a means of clerical revenue 
of the mass of mankind: — Let the reader, I say, im- 
agine to himself such a Christianity as this — this, 
which is but the picture of Romanism — and then 
say if the whole scheme be not a monster, a mon- 
ster of vice, presumption, blasphemy, cruelty, a 
compound and mixture, if such an idea can be in- 
dulged, 

"From heaven, from earth, and from profoundest hell!" 

Such was the monster, the man of sin, the son of 
perdition, which the passage under review author- 
izes us to look for under the christian name. Such 
is the monster we have found under the name of Ro- 
manism; and such the monster will be, if it can, till 
the consuming spirit of the Lord's mouth shall waste 
away the greatness of the demon, or till the descend- 
ing Jesue shall by the brightness of his presence 
strike the lordly assumption with an eternal paraly. 
sis. The cloak of religion and hypocrisy shall at 
last be torn otF, the nations shall hate the harlot, and 
God himself shall burn her with fire. Romanism 
ever affects to be religious, to do every thing in the 
name of Lord — things which he never commanded 



198 THE NEW LIGHT. 

to be done — and to practise and prosper, even to 
persecute and kill, by divine grace! The whole 
system of Ronianism, as such, is a slander on heav- 
en, and a reproach to the name of Christianity — a 
truth which leads us to the final section of this 
chapter. 

§ III. The destiny of the Monster. — If, as we have 
now proved, Romanism be the very antichrist that 
should come and depose the apostles from their 
thrones, counterfeit the religion of Christ and dis- 
grace his name among Jews and Gentiles; it can- 
not be supposed that divine providence will everlast- 
ingly allow of her enormous encroachments. The 
thing must have an end, for it never deserved a be- 
ginning. The world, the church, and the glory of 
God, cannot alwajs endure the pressure of this in- 
cubus. It must be thrown off, and mankind must be 
free — free to think, to speak, and to act! 

So we would reason. But Paul has not left us in 
ignorance of the destiny of Romanism: for the ve- 
ry prophecy which points to its rise and reign, de- 
picts also its fall, with the means which shall avail 
to so desirable a consummation. " Whom the Lord 
shall consume^''^ says he, " with the spirit of his 
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his 
coming." Antichrist, Bomanism^ then, is fated to 
be consumed by the power that proceeds out of the 
mouth of the Lord, the sword of his own Spirit, the 
gospel. So predicts the Prophet. But have we in 
the history of Romanism any thing like such a con- 
sumption? We have. For this giant of wicked- 
ness does not now possess half the power h« onc^ 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 199 

did, when he compelled monarchs to lead his horse 
or kiss his feet — when he laid nations under tribute 
and interdicts, and spread the pall of death over the 
world. And why is he now so feeble? The spirit 
of the Lord's mouth has smitten him and filled his 
muscles and bones with trembling. Jerome of 
Prague, John Huss, Zwingle, Luther, Wickliffe, and 
many others, spoke the word of the Lord, and even 
the time-beaten Vatican trembled at its thunder. 
The word spoken at that time took such effect that 
even now we see its fruits — for the Monster dares 
not put his head out beyond the periphery of his 
shell! And the present age is wearing out and 
diminishing his greatness. The printing-press is 
pouring out light in the direction of Rome, and the 
institutions of the "eternal city" are crumbling be- 
neath the scrutiny of free and unshackled minds. 

After all, however, it seems from the prophecy, 
that Romanism, in one form or another, will exist, 
though in decrepitude, till the very end of the chris- 
tian age; when all that remains of it as otherwise 
invulnerable, will be ground to powder by the fall- 
ing of the great Stone from heaven, which the Lord 
will hasten in his time. — But having now finished 
what we had to say relative to the predictions con- 
cerning Antichrist, we will turn our attention to the 
manner of his entrance into the church. 



CHAPTER XV. 
I. How Romanism arose to power* 

Of the early rise of Romanism by stealthy and gradual advance's 
— General Divisions of the subjects of Investigation — Fable of 
St. Clement about the Phoenix — Error not always introduced by 
Design — Permission of Sin discussed — Constantine took away 
the hindrance of Antichrist — Account of the Conversion of 
Constantine, &c. &c. — Conclusion. 

It now becomes our duty to open the doors of the 
temple of sin and conduct the reader to the several 
apartments: or, to speak without a figure, we shall 
proceed to describe the man of sin, or Romanism^ 
as he is exhibited on the page of history and in ac- 
tive life. But that we may do this to the best ad- 
vantage, it will be necessary to pay some special 
attention to that period of history embraced with- 
in the first six hundred years of the christian era, 
that we may be able to develope the manner in 
which Antichrist arose to his great power and emi- 
nence. We cannot of course go into a regular his- 
tory of those early times; much less shall we be 
able to record full details of more recent periods. 
A few facts well selected must suffice to identif}^ 
Romanism with the predicted and long-expected 
Antichrist. In the prosecution of the remaining 
duties before us we shall observe the following 
method. I will show, 

I. That the Roman antichrist arose by gradual 
steps till he was emboldened to claim universal do- 
minion. 

II. That when risen to power, Romanism was 
cruel and oppressive, persecuting and bloody* 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 201 

III. That Romanism is extremely superstitious 
and even ridiculous and absurd in faith and man- 
ners. 

IV. That Romanism is the mother and fountain 
of sects and heresies. 

V. That the character of the present times, and 
of the times immediately preceding the second ad- 
v-ent of Christ, are and will be affected by the spirit 
of Romanism. 

VI. That all sectarianism of every name, being 
in itself hostile to true Christianity, must be utterly 
destroyed by the reproclamation of the gospel and 
the sudden descent of the Lord Jesus from heav- 
en. — We shall make a distinct chapter for each of 
the above divisions. 



If the reader have paid particular attention to 
the period of church history embraced between the 
points A. D. 52 when Paul wrote his Letters to the 
Thessalonians, and A. D. 325 when the Emperor 
Constantino, ostensibly converted to the christian 
faith, effectually changed the entire face of Christi- 
anity, he must have observed with surprise at how 
early a date superstitions and corruptions began to 
innovate upon the christian religion. Even good, 
learned and godly men were deceived by fables and 
Eastern superstilions. As proof of this we need 
go no farther than the first epistle of St. Clement 
to the Corinthians. In the 13th chapter this pious 
apostolic Father ^' whose name is in the book of 
life," a and who for this reason must be treated with 
a.Phil. iv.3. 



202 THE NEW LIGHT. 

reverence, attempts to prove the resurrection in the 
following singular way: ^^ There is a certain bird 
called a phoenix; of this there is never but one at a 
time, and that lives five hundred years. And when 
the time of its dissolution draws near that it must 
die, it makes itself a nest of frankincense and 
myrrh and other spices, into which when its time is 
fulfilled, it enters and dies. But its flesh, putrifying, 
breeds a certain worm which, being nourished with 
the juice of the dead bird, brings forth feathers; 
and when it is grown to a perfect state, it takes up 
the nest in which the bones of its parent lie, and 
carries it from Arabia into Egypt, to a city called 
Heliopolis. And flying in open day in the sight of 
all men, lays it upon the altar of the suli, and so re- 
turns from whence it came. The priests then search 
into the records of the time, and find that it return- 
ed precisely at the end of five hundred years. And 
«hall we then think it to be any thing very great and 
strange for the Lord of all to raise up those that 
religiously serve him in the assurance of a good 
faith, when by a bird he shows us the greatness of 
his power to fulfil his promise?'^ 

I cannot imagine, therefore, that the introduction 
of error was always intentional. Ignorance of the 
designs of truth, of its power over the human mind, 
and of the genius of the christian religion, contrib- 
uted largely, perhaps indeed, more than any other 
cause, to the rapid influx of error into the church: 
but errors once introduced, no matter by what cause, 
had their effects, and those effects were always per- 
nicious. Nay, they became only the more disas^ 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 203 

trous and pernicious, if any of them were intro- 
duced by the authority, and were supported by the 
example of good men. And at this point a very 
sober question demands a casual notice. That ques- 
tion is this — Can the Almighty, consistently with his 
attributes, allow the introduction of error by his 
friends, and yet hold those responsible for it who in 
after times live under it? The solution of this prob- 
lem (for I confess it is a problem) does not come 
within the purview of this work, and yet it seems to 
force itself upon me in this place. That I may not 
seem fully to disregard it, a very brief illustration 
may suffice. — 

Respecting the introduction of error and sin into 
the moral universe, I think and reason thus — God 
never permitted them to enter in the tirst place. 
How then, asks an objector, did they find their way 
here? To which I answer, they found their way for 
the first time just as they have found their way a 
thousand times since, without and against the will 
and consent of Jehovah. If God, in the first in- 
stance, permitted sin, he permits it in every instance. 
But the very act of permission when predicated of 
God, supposes that he deemed it best for sin to enter: 
but if it were best for one sin to enter — if it were 
more for the general good that man should sin and 
die, than that he should remain innocent and live 
for ever — then the more of that which first promo- 
ted the general good that can exist, the more the 
general good will be subserved by it, which is non- 
sense and an absuridity. God did not therefore 
permit sin, nor does he now permit it. On the con- 



204 THE NEW LIGHT, 

trarj, he plainly and peremptorily forbade man to 
allow of its entrance into the world. In this pro- 
hibition the Deity was either sincere or insincere. 
If sincere, then he did not wish sin to enter, it was 
against his will, he opposed its entrance, he did not 
permit it to come. If insincere, then there is an 
end of our attempting to know any thing respecting 
the divine will; for if we may suppose the Eternal to 
be insincere in one instance, we may suppose the 
same in another, and we should at last have a God 
unworthy of the confidence of them that seek the 
truth. Sin, then, by some means of the devil, 
found its way into our world contrary to the will or 
mind or command or permission of the God who 
made us, and contrary to that will has existed here 
for six thousand years. Men who sin are of course 
justly held responsible for their crimes. 

Regarding the corruption of the christian church, 
and respecting the ingress of much of that corrup- 
tion by its friends, similar remarks will suffice. God 
made the institution pure, armed it with every nec- 
essary defence against corruption, and expressed 
most clearly his will that she should continue pure 
throughout all time. But, as we said on another oc- 
casion, had she been so constituted and organized 
that she could not apostatize, she would have been 
incapable of all the virtues of fidelity, patience, re- 
signation and vigilance. To the question under 
consideration, therefore, we may say, that as sinning 
never happened by God's permission, had he so op- 
posed its entrance as to render it impossible to come, 
man could never have been treated according to 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 205 

what we call justice: In other words, God cannot, 
according to human nature, render sin impossible to 
us without giving us a nature different from that 
which was given to our first father. Whether the 
christian church, then, should remain pure as the 
apostles organized it, or be engulfed by an aposta- 
cy, was a matter to be determined by those who had 
the management of it after the close of the apos- 
tolic age. It so happened that those managers 
managed badly; and that bad management is the 
subject of our present investigation. 

But let us return from this digression. 

It is manifest that in the ratio that the teachers of 
religion are virtuous or vicious, so will be the mor- 
als of the whole community. Highminded and am- 
bitious clergymen, wealthy and avaricious ministers, 
will ever indicate the state of religion in any coun- 
try. When ministers despise the world and its hon- 
ors, are meek and devotional, self denying and heav- 
enly-minded, the good spirit will always take effect 
both from the public discourse and the private inter- 
course. But luxury and affluence engender pride 
and arrogance, and as these take possession of the 
mind, devotion dies and faith loses its transforming 
power over the heart and life. This sad state of 
things began to appear in the early history of the 
church; for, Constantino the emperor, in the lan- 
guage of Mr. Dowling in his late excellent history 
of Romanism, "undertook to convert the kingdom 
of Christ into a kingdom of this world, by exalting 
the teachers of Christianity to the same state of af- 
fluence, grandeur and influence in the empire, as 



206 THE NEW LIGHT. 

had been enjoyed by pagan priests and secular of- 
ficers in the state. The professed ministers of Je- 
sus, having now a wide field opened to them for grat- 
ifying their lust of power, wealth and dignity, the 
connection between the christian faith and the cross 
was at an end. What followed was the kingdom 
of the clergy supplanting the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ." Great was the joy of thousands of chris- 
tians when they saw a christian emperor on the 
throne; for the bloody scourge of pagan persecu- 
tion could now no longer lacerate their backs or 
give them as food for wild beasts. Alas, that the 
greatest mercies are sometimes our greatest misfor- 
tunes! No sooner had Christianity triumphed over 
its foes without, than it was assailed by foes within, 
whose advance was unobserved, or seemed as the 
presence of friends and allies! "Many of the er- 
rors, indeed," to use the language of the same his- 
torian—-" many of the errors of several centuries, the 
fruit of vain philosophy, paved the way for the 
events which followed;" but the hindering power 
mentioned by Paul, was, by the accession of Con- 
stantine, fully taken away, and the revelation of the 
man of sin then became almost a matter of course. 
Respecting the conversion of Constantino a wild 
and fabulous story is related by some ancient wri- 
ters. Eusebius is, perhaps, the first to introduce this 
incredible tale. The substance of it is this: "Con- 
stantino at the head of his army was marching from 
France into Italy, oppressed with anxiety as to the 
result of a battle with Maxentius, and looking for 
the aid of some deity to assure him of success, when 



ON AKTI-CHRIST# 207 

he suddenly beheld a luminoug cross in the air, with 
the words inscribed thereon, "By this overcome!'^ 
Pondering on the event at night, he asserted that 
Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision and direc- 
ted him to make the symbol of the cross his military 
ensign/' b The comment of Mr. Dowling on this 
superstitious legend is so full oi good sense and rea- 
son, that I adopt it without hesitation. "For my 
part," says he, "I have no hesitation in regarding 
the whole as a fable. It was not till many years af- 
ter it was said to have occurred, that Constantine re- 
lated the story to Eusebius, and in all probability he 
did it then by the instigation of his superstitious 
mother Helena, the celebrated discoverer of the 
wood of the true cross at Jerusalem, some two hun- 
dred and fifty years after the total destruction of that 
city and all that it contained, and the disappear- 
ance of the identity of its very foundations under 
the ploughshare of the Roman conqueror Vespa- 
sian. 

"Soon after Constantine^s professed conversion to 
Christianity, he undertook to remodel the govern- 
ment of the church, so as to make it conform as much 
as possible to the government of the State.'^ And 
here let the reader note particularly, that this one 
act became a most prolific source of every species 
of ecclesiastical corruption. For, "hen€e,"as the 
same historian judiciously observes, "the origin of 
the dignities of patriarchs, exarchs, archbishops, 
canons, prebendaries, &c. intended by the Empe- 
ror to correspond with the different secular oflSces 
and dignities connected with the civil administra* 
b DQwling p, 3l# 



208 THE NEW LIGHT. 

tion of the empire. Taking these newly constitu- 
ted dignitaries of the church into his own special fa- 
vor, he loaded them with wealth and worldly hon- 
ors, and richly endowed {he churches over which 
they presided, thus fostering in those who professed 
to be the followers and ministers of him who was 
'meek and lowly in heart/ a spirit of worldly ambi- 
tion, pride and avarice. And thus was the let or 
hindrance to the progress of corruption, and the 
revelation of "the man of sin" spoken of by St. 
Paul in the remarkable prediction already referred 
to, in a great measure removed." And thus the Lit- 
tle Horn with mouth and eyes on the head of the 
last universal Beast, began to protuberate as it were 
beneath the rough cuticle of the Monster. 

"From this time onward, the progress of priestly 
domination and tyranny was far more rapid than in 
any previous age." The flood-gates were opened, 
and the wild deluge spread almost without law and 
without bounds! "The lofty tiile of Pal riarch was 
assumed by the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, Anti- 
och, and Jerusalem, and also of Constantinople af- 
ter the removal of the seat of empire to that city, 
claiming, according to Bingham, "the right to or- 
daia all the metropolitans of their own diocese; to 
call diocesan synods, and to preside over them; to 
1 receive appeals from metropolitan and provincial 
synods; to censure metropolitans and their suffragan 
bishops; to pronounce absolution upon great crimi- 
nals; and to be absolute and independent one of 
another.^' [These were, indeed, highhanded meas* 
ures; but they naturally grew out of the union of 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 209 

church and state. Similar abuses and usurpations 
have, in every instance of such unnatural leagues, 
been*manifested to the injury of religion, from that 
day to this.] 

The reader will continue to bear in mind, that at 
the time of which we are speaking, the church of 
Rome had not become the mistress of other church- 
es. We are noting the stealthy and gradual growth 
of this insidious power. "In relation to these five 
patriarchates, the Romanists, as Coleman says, are 
careful to say, that ''there were, at first, live pa- 
triarch's in the church; that those of Rome, Alex- 
andria and Antioch, were deservedly so called per 
se et ex naiura\ but that those of Constantinople 
and Jerusalem were hy mere accident, /J^r accidens^ 
graced with this title.''- The fact that these patri- 
archs were absolute and independent of each other, 
shows that, up to tliis time, notwithstanding the 
proud pretensions of the bishop or patriarch of 
Rome, he was not as yet acknowledged as head of 
the universal church.*^ [This is a fact of much sig- 
nificance, and proves fatal to the cause of Roman- 
ism: for if it can be clearly ascertained that there was 
a time when the church had no universal bishop, 
the inference must be that such an officer was never 
appointed by Jesus Christ.] 

*'The bishops of three great cities of the Roman 
empire, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, according 
to the learned and accurate Gicscler, h^d the lar- 
gest dioceses. Hence they were considered as the 
heads of the church, and in all general affiiirs par- 
ticular deference was paid to their opinion. Still, 
14 



210 f ETE NEW MGnT» 

however, great stress was laid on the perfect eqira?!^ 
ty of all bishops; and each, in Ms own diocese^ 
was answerable only to God and his consciencee. 
Nor were they likely to allow any peculiar aii^thori- 
ty to the supposed soccesso'r of Peter, inasmruch as* 
they attributed to Peter no superiority over the other 
apostles* In the West, indeed, a certain regard was 
paid to the church of Romre as the largest, but by 
no means were any peculiar rights conceded to it 
over other churches. Of course, this would be still 
less the case in the East/' c [But such were the 
mysteries which combined to exalt the Roman pa- 
triarch, that one step of aggrandizrement after an- 
other was conceded t^ him, till by the coiisent of 
kings and emperors he became at last the boldest 
and most imperio^us master known ir^ the annals o§ 
time.] 

" It is true that so early a^ before the contrlusion^ 
of the second century, Victor, bi&hop of Rome, had^ 
attempted to lorJ it over hra brethren of the East^ 
by forcing them by his pretended laws and decrees 
to follow the rule which was observed by the Wes- 
tern churches in relation to the time of the paschal 
fea&t, to which, in later timely the name of Easier 
was applied. The Asiatics did not observe this fes- 
tival on the same day as the Western churches; an J 
in order to make them confarm to his wishes, Victor 
wrote an imperious letter to^the churches in Asiay . 
commanding them to observe it on the same day as 
he did. The Asiatics answered this lordly sum- 
mons by the pen of Polycrates, bishop o^f Ephesus^ 
who declared, in theirnamey and that with great 
cGieseler, Vol.1, p. 153, quoted by Dowling, page 32. 



ON ANTt-CHRIST. 211 

Spirit and resolution, that they would by no means 
depart in this matter from the custom handed down 
to them by their ancestors. Upon this, the thunder 
of excommunication began to roar, Victor, exas- 
perated by this resolute answer of the Asiatic bish- 
ops, broke communion with them, pronounced them 
unworthy of the name of his brethren, and exclu- 
ded them from all fellowship with the church of 
Rome. This excommunication, indeed, extended 
no further; nor could it cutoff the Asiatic bishops 
from communion with the other churches, whose 
bishops vYcre far from approving the conduct of Vic- 
tor. The progress of this violent dissension was 
stopped by the wise and moderate remonstrances 
which Irenaeus bishop of Lyons addressed to the 
Roman prelate on this occasion, in which he showed 
him the imprudence and injustice of the step he had 
taken, and also by the long letter which the Asiatic 
christians wrote in their own justification. In con- 
sequence therefore of this cessation of arms, the 
combatants retained each their own customs, till the 
fourth century, when the council of Nice abolished 
that act of the Asiatics, and rendered the time of 
the celebration of Easter the same through all the 
christian churches. "This whole affair," remarks 
the learned Mosheim, "furnishes a striking argu- 
ment, among a multitude that maybe drawn from 
ecclesiastical history, against the supremacy and 
universal authority of the bishop of Rome," [that 
is, at the time in question.] d 

" Another proof equally conclusive that the bish- 
op of Rome was not acknowledged as sapreme head 

d Mosheim, vol. i. p 205, note* 



212 THE KEW LIGHT. 

of the church'' [during those earlj days,] " may be 
drawn fiom the dispute that arose between the im-, 
perious Stephen of Rome, and Cyprian bi?bop of 
Carthage in Africa, about the middle of the third 
century, relative to the validity of baptism adminis- 
tered by heretics. As there was no express law 
which determined the manner and form according 
to which those who abandoned the heretical sects 
were to be received into the communion of the 
church, the rules practised in this matter were not 
the same in all christian churches^ Many of the 
oriental and African christians placed recanting her- 
etics in the rank of catechumens, and admitted 
them by baptism^ into the communion of the faith- 
ful; while iho greatest part of the European church- 
es, considering the baptism of heretics as vaHd, used 
no other forms in their reception than ihe imp osil ion 
of hahds accompanied v^^ith solemn prayer. This 
diversity prevailed for a long time without kindhng 
contentions or animosities. But, at length, charity 
waxed cold, and the fire of ecclesiastical discord 
broke out. In this century the Asiatic christians 
came to a determination in a point that was hitherto 
in some measure undecided: and in more than one 
council established it as a law, that all heretics were 
to be baptized before their admission to the commun- 
ion of the church, e When Stephen bishop of Rome 
was informed of this determination, he behaved 
with the most unchristian violence and arrogance to- 
wards the Asiatic christians, broke communion with 
them, and excluded them from the communion of 
the church of Rome! These haughty proceedings 

e Eusebiiis, Book vii. c. 6, 7. p. 273, 274. 



ox ANTI-CHRIST, 213 

made no impression upon Cyprian bishop of Car- 
thage, who, notwithstanding the n^enaces of the 
Roman pontiff, assembled a council on this occasion, 
and with the rest of the African- bishops, adopted 
the opinion of the Asiatics, and gave notice thereof 
to the imperious Stephen. The furj^ of Stephen 
was redoubled at this notification, and produced 
many threatnings and invectives against Cyprian, 
who replied with great force and resolution, and, in 
a second council held at ('arthage, declared the 
baptism administered by heretics void of all effica- 
cy and validity. Upon this, the choler of Stephen 
swelled beyond measure, and, by a decree full of 
invectives which was received with contempt, he 
excommunicated the African bishops whose modera- 
tion, on the one hand, and the death of their impe- 
rious antagonist on the other, put an end to the vio- 
lent controversy .''/* [But the contest proves to our 
satisfaction that the bishop of Rome had not at 
that time the dominion which Romanists claim as 
due to the head of their church. It shows, too, that 
the boy of sin was rapidly gaining form, figure, and 
strength.] 

"In relating these quarrels of course we express 
no opinion as to which party was right. In all prob- 
ability the heretics whose baptism they questioned, 
were in many cases nearer the truth than either 
party. Our single object in relating the dispute is 
to show, that so late as the year 256, when the coun- 
cil of Carthage was held, the decisions of the bish- 
op of Rome, when they conflicted with the views of 
other Bishops, were not received as authority; and 
f Cyp. Epist. Ixx. Ixxiii. 



914 THE NEW LIGHT. 

that SAINT Cyprian^ as he is called by Romanists 
themselves, could reject his decrees with contempt 
without forfeiting his title to the honors of subse- 
quent canonization. What greater proof could be, 
required that the blasphemous dogma thai the bish- 
op of Rome is supreme head of the church and 
Ticegerent of God upon earth, had never yet been 
heard of? He was traveling step by step towards, 
but had not yet reached, nor did he attain till more 
than three centuries afterwards, that blasphemous 
eminence, when, according to the prediction of Paul, 
he ^'opposed and exalted himself above all that is 
called God or is worshipped.'^ 

"He far surpassed all his brethren in the magnifi- 
cence and splendor of the church over which he 
presided; in the riches of his revenues and posses- 
sions; in the number and variety of ministers; in 
his credit with the people; and in his sumptuous 
and splendid manner of living. Ammianus Mar- 
€ellinus,a Roman historian who lived during these 
times, adverting to this subject says, 'It was no won- 
der to see those who were ambitious of human great- 
ness, contending with so much heat and animosity 
for that dignity, because when they had obtained it, 
they were sure to be enriched by the offerings of 
the nations, appearing abroad in great splendor, of 
being admired for their costly coxiches and sump- 
tuous feasts, outdoing sovereign princes in the ex- 
penses of their table." This led Praetextatus, a 
heathen, who was prefect of the city, to say, "Make 
me bishop of Home^ and I'll be a chrislian iooF^ 

"These dazzling marks of human power, .those 



ON ANTI-CHRIST* 215 

amTDiguo'JS proofs of true greatness and felicity, had 
^uch a mighty influence upon the minds of the multi- 
tude, that the See of Rome became in this century 
<i most seducing object of sacerdotal ambition. 
Hence it happened that when a new pontiflF was to 
be elected by the suffrages of the presbyters and 
people, the city of Rome was generally agitated 
with dissensions, tumults, and cabals, whose conse- 
quences were often deplorable and fatal. The in- 
trigues and disturbances which prevailed in that 
city in the year 366, when, upon the death of Libe- 
rius another pontiff was to be chosen in his place, 
are a sufficient proof of what we have now advan- 
ced. Upon this occasion, one faction elected Da- 
masus to thai high dignity, while the opposite party 
chose Ursicinus, a deacon of the vacant church, to 
succeed Liberius. This double election gave rise 
to a dangerous schism and to a sort of civil war with- 
in the city of Rome, which was carried on with the 
utmost barbarity and fury, and produced the inost 
cruel massacres and desolations. In this disgrace- 
ful contest which ended in the victory of Damasus, 
according to the historian Socrates, great numbers 
were murdered on 'either side, no less than one hun- 
dred and thirty-seven persons being destroyed in 
the very church itself. Who does not peceive, in 
these wicked strifes and sanguinary struggles, a 
proof that now that which ^^ let ^' or hindered, was 
taken out of the way, the full revelation of the 
predicted "man of sin" was rapidly hastening on- 
ward?" [If Christ was the Prince of peace, had 
lie any participaxicj m the choice of these bloody 



216 THE NEW LIGHT. 

aspirants to fill a throne which reflects everlasting 
slander upon his name and kingdom? If these 
were true apostles of Christ, Peter, James, John, 
and the rest, were false and unworthy! Bat the 
truth is, those pontiffs were the members of Anti- 
christ — for they that kill one another have the spir- 
it of Cain who "was of the wicked one and slew 
his brother."] 

" While such an example of worldly pride and 
domination was set by those who were looked up to 
as the heads of the church, it is not surprising that 
other bishops partook of the same spirit- As an 
instance of their haughty bearing towards kings 
and rulers, it is related of Martin bishop Tours in 
France, that in the year 455 he was invited to dine 
with the emperor Maximus. When the cup of wine 
was presented to the emperor by the servant, he di- 
rected that it should be first offered to the bishop, 
expecting, of course, that then he should receive it 
from the hand of Martin. Instead of this, however, 
Martin handed the cup to a priest of inferior rank 
who sat near him, thus by his rudeness intimating 
that he regarded the priest as of higher dignity 
than the Emperor! Some time after this the queen 
asked her husband's consent that she might be al- 
lowed, in the character of a servant, to wait on the 
bishop at supper, and, strange to say, her request 
was granted. For this conduct, according to the 
superstitious notions of the times, Sulpitius the bi- 
ographer of Martin, compares her to the Queen of 
Sheba! A Roman Catholic historian referring to 
this bishop^ uses the following language:— ^^Th^ 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 317 

great Sf. Martin, the glory and light of Gaul, was a 
a disciple of St. Hilary. The utter extirpation of 
idolatry out of the diocese of Tours and all that 
part of Gaul, was the fruit of his edifying piety, z7- 
hislriuus mirocles^ zealous labors, and fervent exhor- 
tations and instructions. He was remarkable for 
his humili'y^ charity, austerity, and all other heroic 
virtues." g* 

Such were some of the early but giant strides of 
antichVist towards universal dominion. We have 
not room to follow him through all his youth up to 
manhood, and thence into his old age and decline of 
life. We aim to give a few cardinal historic facts 
by v^^hich the general features of this miscreated 
power may be recognized, ]>ut we pause at this 
point to give the reader a little rest after he shall 
have perused the following lines descriptive of Rp- 
nianism: — 

^^ But cent'iie.s pass'd. The Oracles divine, 
By superstition veil'd, refus'd to shine. 
Philosophers turn'd priests, baptis'd their lore, 
And Christian call'd what Pagan was before: 
Took some from Gentile books, and some from Jew^ 
Coj^pounded, mixed, identified the two; 
Took some from Christ to sanctify their shame, 
Then call'd the monster by the Christian name! 

Then roll'd the lingering ages dark and drear; 
'Tvvas there a vice, a superstition here. 
Fictions and fables daily multiplied, 
Upheav'd corruption's ever heaving tide: 
Still more it rolPd as grew the love of gold, 
And onward whirl'd the ghostly torrent roll'dl 
Rolling it swell'd and ran as deep as wide; 



gGaJian's History of the Church, p. 153. — Dowling p. 3S. 



Q18 THE NEW LIGHT. 

As high as deep plung'd on the headlong tide; 
As vile as wide it grew, as foul as deep, 
As dark as high convolving up the steep; 
Till gath'ring to a mass imperial grown, 
Itrul'd the subject world from Caesar's throne!" t 



CHAPTER XVL 
IL Same subject continued. 

Independence of the Primitive Churches — Ra^e for Councils — 
Effects of Councils — Appeals to Rome a Cause of exalting 
her Bishops — The Danger of Appeals — Anecdote cf Queen 
Etheldreda — Councils at Rome — Veneration of the Barbarians 
for their Priests; that Veneration transferred to the Bishops — 
Bishop of Rome aspires to universal Dominion — Contentions 
for the Popedom ; bloody riois to secure it — Constantinople and 
Rome rivals for a time — Pope Gregory's definition of Anti- 
christ — Title of Universal finally given to Boniface — Phocas 
the Murderer the source of papal supremacy. 

We glanced in the preceding chapter at the in- 
undation of error and corruption, which, under the 
name of the Christian Religion, swept over the 
world as the consequence of the union of church 
and state under the adnr)inistration of Constantine 
the Roman Emperor. To show some of the far- 
ther steps of this power it will be necessary rather 
to allude to certain other historical facts than to 
record them at large* 

Already, in the preceding pages, we have contem- 
plated the character of the primitive churches, and 
found that they were, as both Waddington and Mos- 
j Paradise Restored, p. 30. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 219 

heim attest, " essentially independent of each other.'' 
We have seen that the rulers of the church, in the 
language of the latter historian, "were called ei- 
ther presbyters or bishops^ which two titles are in 
the New Testament undoubtedly applied to the 
^ame order of men;" that the bishops of this golden 
age of the church, were in nearly every respect, 
the reverse of what we tind under the same titles in 
subsequent ages; and that the lites and ceremo- 
nies among the primitive saints were few and ex- 
ceedingly simple, utterly unlike the pomps and 
shows and gaudy trappings of the ages of popery. 
When the first innovation was made, it called for 
another, and this for a third, that for a fourth, and so 
on, till the very vitals of religion were eaten out 
and a dry and dead husk of formality and ^supersti- 
tion assumed the name of religion. This state of 
things began strongly to manifest itself, as we have 
shown, under Constantine. 

The next marker feature of the increasing anti- 
christ, to which the attention of the reader is sohci- 
ted, is, the rage for council holding which obtained 
within the first three centuries. "These councils^ 
of which we find not the smallest trace before the 
middle of the second century," says the learned 
Dr. Mosheim, "changed the whole face of the 
church and gave it a new form; for by them the 
ancient privileges of the people were considerably 
diminished, and the power and authority of the 
bishops greatly augmented. The humility, indeed^ 
and prudence of these pious prelates, prevented 
their assuming all at once the power with which 



230 THE NEW LIGHT. 

they were afterwards invested. At their first ap- 
pearance in these general councils, Ihej acknowl- 
edged thai they were no more than the delegates 
of their respiictive churches, and that they acted in 
the name and by the appointment of their people. 
But they soon changed this humble tone, impercepr 
tibly extended the limits of their authority, turned 
their influence into dominion, and their counsels into 
laws; and openly asserted, at length, that Christ 
had empowered them to prescribe to his people an- 
ihorilalive ru'es of faith and maimers! 

" Another effect of these councils was the gradu- 
al abolition of /Aa/ ;7e;;/"t'C^ equalttij which reigned 
amoag all bishops in the primitive times. For the 
order and decency of these assemblies required that 
some one of the provincial bishops met in council, 
should be invested with a superior degree of power 
and authority; and hence the rights of metropolis 
tans derive their origin, in the mean time, the 
bounds of the church were enlarged, the custom of 
holding councils was followed wherever the sound 
of the gospel had reached; and the universal church 
had now the appearance of one vast republic form- 
ed by a combination of a great number of little 
states. This occasioned the creation of a new or- 
der of ecclesiastics who were appointed in diflferent 
parts of the world, as heads of the church, and 
whos3 office it was to preserve the consistence and 
union of that immense body whose members were 
so widely dispersed throughout the nations. Such 
was the nature and office of the patriarchs, among 
w^hom, at length, ambition being arrived at its most 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 221 

insolent period, formed a new dignity, investing the 
bishop of Rome and bis successors, with the title and 
authority of prince of the Patriarchs! 

" The christian doctors had the good fortune" 
[if we may call that good which r< suited in nu- 
merous and greviousevih to mankind] "to persuade 
the people that the ministers of the christian church 
succeeded to the character, rights, and privileges of 
the Jewish priesthood; and this persuasion was a 
new source both of honors and profit to the sacred 
order. 1 his notion was propagated with industry 
some time ari;er the reign of Adrian when the sec- 
ond destruction of Jerusalem had extinguished 
among the Jews nil liopes of seeing tiieir govern- 
ment restored to its former lustre and th^eir country 
arising out of ruins. And accordin<:ly the bishops 
considered themselves as invested with a rank and 
character similar to those of the high priest among 
the Jews, while iho. presbyters represented the 
priests^ iind i\\Q deacons the levitcs. It is, indeed, 
probable that they who first introduced this absurd 
comparison of ofiicers so entirely distinct, did it rath- 
er through ignorance and error than through arti- 
fice or design. The notion, liowcver, once intro- 
duced, produced its natural effects; and these effects 
were pernicious.- The errors to which it gave rise 
were many; and one of its immediate consequen- 
ces was the establishing a greater difference be- 
'tween the christian pastors and the their flock than 
the genius of the gospel seems to admit. "^ And 
thus it v^^as that the Roman church, by one innova* 
tion after another, taking somewhat from Christ and 
a MoBheim, cent. i. part 2 — cent. ii. part 2. 



222 THE NEW LIGST* 

his apostles, somewhat from Judaism, and somewhat 
from the Pas^anism of the times, arose to its bad em- 
inence, and finally displaced every thing which be- 
longed to primitive Christianity. 

The custom of appealing to Rome^ was another 
occasion of the rapid growth of that church. When- 
ever, by general consent or otherwise, any one is 
frequently appealed to in order to settle litigated 
cases, he is apt to feel an importance greater than 
what by right belongs to him. To feel thus is hu- 
man. Superior courts of human judicature are not 
proof against this vain and delusive form of selfish- 
ness: and when it is transferred to a church, or to 
the presiding bishop of the church, she or be affects 
the judge almost at once; and if many cases are 
carried to such a self-devised tribunal, pride and ar- 
rogance will, in time, almost inevitably succeed* 
Such w^as the case in relation to the church of Rome^ 
as the reader may see by consulting ecclesiasti'cal 
history. Indeed, the whole doctrine of appeals^ 
except when the appellants carry their case to the 
apostles, is to be avoided as a feature of antichrist, 
as an index to, perhaps, dee])ly seated corruptions^ 

The running and spreading of this evil do not 
terminate with the first act of judgment pronounced 
by the power appealed to: that act becomes a pre- 
cedent for succeeding bishops, as the decisions of 
courts become laws to succeeding judges. And 
such was the case in reference to the church of 
Eome. The council of Sardis, A. D. 347, during 
the Arian c0ntraversy, passed an act that "in the 
event of apyy bishop cc^nsidering himself aggrieved 



ON ANTICHRIST* . 223 

hy the sentence of the bishops of his provincey he 
might apply to the bishop of Rome, who should 
write to the bishops in the neighborhood of the 
province of the aggrieved bishop, to rehear the 
cause/' &c. This act, though possiblj not intend- 
ed to acknowledge the See of Rome as possessed of 
the right to hear appeals, was nevertheless recarred 
to afterwards as a precedent in proof of such a rights 
for when, in the beg'inning of the fifth centurjy 
Apiarius a presbyter of the church of Sicca in Afri- 
ca, had been deposed for an irregular life, he went 
to Rome and^as received by Zosimus the dominant 
bishop, who immediately sent messengers into Afri^ 
ca demanding that the cause of Apiarius should be 
re-'heard, and asserting that the bishop of Rome had 
the right to institute such re-hearings, pleading the 
Jtct of the council of Sardis in proof of the right. 
And though the African churches repulsed the am^ 
bitious pretender, letting him know that they were 
independent of him, the fact teaches a double mor* 
al;: first, that appeals by one church to another are 
always dangerous^ secondly, that the Romanism of 
the fourth century was a puny affair compared with 
that of the seventh. But the reader of ecclesiasti- 
cal history will find that Romanism finally sueceed- 
ed in establishing its right to hear appeals. This 
became a mighty engine of papal influence. The 
'popes encouraged appeals '^ from the decisions of 
other ecclesiastical courts to the Apostolic See, by 
almost invariably deciding in favor of the appellant, 
whatever might bethe just merits of the case. Thus 
in the very next year after tb© appointment af The-^ 



224 THE NEW LIGHT. 

odore to Canterbury, the same pope Vitalianus re- 
versed the judgment of a synod consisting of all 
the bishops of the island of Crete, against one John 
bishop of Lappa in that island, who had been guil- 
ty of certain crimes, absolved the criminal, and im- 
periously commanded Paul the primate of Crete, to 
restore the deposed bishop to his office!" b 

One case more may suffice for this head. Wil- 
fred, bishop of York in England, had encouraged 
Etheldreda queen of the Northumberland King 
ficgfrid. having herself pcrhiaps some inclination 
thai way, to refuse to her royal head ihe rights of a 
husband, to take fhe vow of chastity, and retire in- 
to a monastery. The queen left the king and re- 
ceived the veil at the hands of Wilfrid in Scotland. 
The king pursued his wife whom he tenderly loved, 
into Scotland; but failing to reclaim her to ^'his 
bed and board," lie turned the weiglit of his royal 
arm against Wilfrid, caused him to be deposed from 
his bishopric, and banished Inm from the kingdom 
of Northumberland. The rcHilt wa3,that Wilfrid 
.appealed to pope Agatho who then iilled the papal 
chair, was declared innocent and. unjustly deposed, 
was ordered to be restored to his sec, and the clergy 
and laity of England were required to pay the strict- 
est obedience to this decision. The authority of 
the pope prevailed, and the king had the misfortune 
to lose both his queen and much of the respect of his^ 
people. Finally, the authority to receive appeals 
became of such value to the Roman Pontiffs, was 
such a source of increasing power and influence, 
that, as we have already seen, it passed into a max- 
bDowlingp, 139. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 225 

im of the imperious Gregory VII., " No man shall 
presume to condemn the person who appeals to the 
Apostolic See!" (See above, page 194.) 

A variety of causes contributed to the creation of 
the Roman bishop in the first place, and similar 
causes issued in exalting him above his equals. The 
history of these last causes we cannot particularly 
trace otherwise than by the most concise allusions. 

In the year 372 a law was enacted which empow- 
ered the bishop of Rome to examine and judge oth- 
er bishops, and a council in that city shortly after- 
wards recommended to the emperor Gratian that 
this law of the bishop might have the support of the 
imperial arm. It was customary before the close of 
the fourth century, to refer to the decision of the 
See of Rome all questions concerning apostolic cus- 
toms and doctrines. This, of course, turned out to 
be the factory in which many scores of so called 
"apostolic traditions" and "' doctrines" had their 
origin or approval. New things began to be called 
by old names, the trick of antichrist in all ages — a 
most effectual way to blind and deceive the multi- 
tude. The celebrated decretals are referred to this 
period, as of apostolic authority, while every one 
knows them to be base forgeries and impositions. 

After the fall of the empire in 476, the rude con- 
querors of Rome transferred the veneration they 
had paid to the highpriests of their deities, to the 
Roman Pontiff, by an easy transition: for Ro- 
manism and heathenism could as easily coalesce as 
kindred drops of water when pushed into contact. 
These superstitious hordes of Barbarians became.. 
15 



2S6 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Romanists almost without a struggle or a sacrifice^ 
and the consequence was a still higher elevation 
into power of the aspiring bishop, who was not blind 
to the advantages afforded in the case« Barbarians 
received the christian name without the religion of 
Christ, and the clergy of Rome tacitly conformed 
to the rites and ceremonies of heathenism — or, to 
say the same in a paradox, heathens became chris- 
tians, and christians became heathens. And this 
wa» Antichrist! 

These revolutions increased the wealth of the 
Roman See and of the clergy generally. ^^The de- 
votion of the conquering nations,^' says the eloquent 
Hallam, " as it was still less enlightened than that 
of the subjects of the empire, so was it still more 
munificent. They left, indeed, the worship of He- 
sus and Taranis in their forests; but they retained 
the elementary principles of that, and of all barba- 
rous idolatry, a superstiiioua reverence for the priest-' 
hood^ a credulity that seemed to invite imposture, 
and a confidence in the eflScacy of gifts to expiate 
offences. Of this temper it is undeniable that the 
ministers of religion, influenced probably not so 
much by personal covetousness as by zeal for the in- 
terests of their order, took advantage. Many of 
the peculiar and prominent characteristics in the 
faith and discipline of those ages appear to have 
been either introduced, or sedulously promoted, for 
the purpose of sordid fraud. To those purposes 
conspired the veneration for relics, the worship of 
images, the idolatry of saints and martyrs, the reli* 
gious inviolability of sanctuaries, the consecjatioQ 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 227 

of cemeteries, but, above all, the doctrine of pur- 
gatory, and masses for the relief of the dead. A 
creed thus contrived, operating upon the minds of 
barbarians, lavish though rapacious, and devout 
though dissolute, naturally caused a torrent of opu- 
lence to pour in upon the church," c and along with 
it additional means for the acquisition of a still 
greater power to the chief bishop of the empire. 

Not more ardently had sighed and sought Nebu- 
chadnezzar of Babylon, or Darius the Mede, or Al- 
exander the Macedonian, or Augustus the Roman, 
for the universal dominion of the earth, than sighed 
and sought the bishops of Rome for the crowns of 
both temporal and spiritual empire. Supremacy 
became now the object of their ambition. But in 
order to gain this dizzy eminence, they must make it 
appear that they have a divine right to if; but, as 
such a right cannot be maintained either by scrip- 
ture or history, histories and traditions must be 
forged to support the right. They therefore state 
for themselves, or others state for them, first, that 
the apostle Peter was constituted by Jesus Christ 
SUPREME HEAD of the church on earth; and second- 
ly, that he was installed the first bishop or pope of 
Rome. Laying down these two positions as funda- 
mental, ihey proceeded to build upon them the tem- 
ple of their power in unbroken succession from Pe- 
ter "the prince of the apostles." And though in- 
telligent men must laugh at this supreme ignorance, 
or grieve at this prodigious fraud, yet the ghostly 
bishop persisted in his assumed right till it was final- 
ly allowed. Ever since which time, he is consid- 
c Hallam, chap. vii. p. 262. 



228 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ered not only as a successor of the apostles^ but as 
successor to the prince of apostles! 

The throne of the popedom had long been the 
object of the fond ambition of aspiring ecclesiastics^ 
and was now becoming daily more so. Hence 
arose bloody wars between factions upon the death 
of a pope. Rival parties held up their favorite can- 
didates, and sometimes elected two or three popes 
at the same time. This happened several times in 
the sixth century. Councils were called to settle 
the disputes, and the successful competitor, notwith- 
standing the bloody and murderous deeds done in 
his elevation, arose higher and higher, till, in a coun- 
cil at Rome the horrid sentiment was promulgated, 
^the bishop of Rome is subject io no earlhly tribu- 
nalP^ Not only at home in the city of seven hills, 
were most impious contentions common upon the de- 
cease of a pope; but the supremacy itself was dis- 
puted with the Roman pontiff by the Patriarch of 
Constantinople. But snch was the disposition of 
powers, at this crisis, that the bishop of Rome final- 
ly bore off the palm and "exalted himself above 
all that is called God.'' 

It is worthy of particular notice that the contest 
between Rome and Constantinople called forth from 
John, bishop of the latter city, a profession which 
Gregory of Rome interpreted as a strong feature of 
Antichrist: for John assumed and claimed the title 
of UNIVERSAL BISHOP, a titlc heretofore openly avow- 
ed by none either in the East or West. Gregory 
strenuously opposed this lordly claim, assigning a 
variety of reasons against it; and in order to estab- 



ON ANTI-CHRISr. 229 

iish his own authority, he invented the fable of the 
KEYS. His argument seems to have been this; that 
as the keys were committed to St. Peter, rather 
than to the whole body of bishops, and as the bish- 
op of Rome was the successor of Peter, therefore, 
the bishop of Rome held the keys of the kingdom 
of heaven, with power to open and shut, bind and 
loose. As tokens of this power, Gregory was wont 
to send literal keys to certain bishops; he even made 
a present of some to the bishop of Antioch, setting 
forth that there was power in them to work shining 
miracles! 

But fearing that the magic of the keys would 
prove too feeble to keep down the towering ambition 
of his rival of Constantinople, Gregory betook him- 
self to his pen, and wrote letters to his own ambas- 
sador at Constantinople, to the patriarch John also, 
and finally to the emperor Mauritius, In these let- 
ters he characterizes the title universal bishop as- 
sumed by John by all the following words and phra- 
ses, 'vain^ execrable^ arUichrislian^ blasphemous^infer^ 
nal^ diabolical^ a sinful svggestioii of the wicked^ this 
name of error ^ a foolish and proud appellation^ this 
rash presumption^ this name of proud and foolish 
usurpation^ this perverse name^ this haughty title^ 
this name which 7io true saint would presume to ac- 
cept^ this nezo name against both the low of the gos* 
pel and of the canons^ this blasphemous name*^^ and he 
says to the emperor, "lam the servant of all priests 
so long as they live like themselves: but if any 
shall vainly set up his bristles, contrary to God Al- 
mighty, and to the canons of the fathers, I hope ia 



230 THE NEW UGHT. 

God that he will never succeed in bringing my neck 
under his yoke — not even by force of arms!" 

But the keys and the pen of Gregory did not 
have the effect which he so anxiously implored: for 
Cynacus, the successor of John in the see of Con- 
stantinople, having occasion to write to Gregory^ 
styled himself "universal bishop" as John had 
done before. This enraged the Roman pontiff, so 
that he mistreated the bearers of the dispatches. 
This occasioned a correspondence between the em- 
peror and Gregory. The emperor reproves the pon- 
tiff, and the pontiff retorts upon the emperor. The 
lion and the tiger make signs of battle. Nothing se- 
rious, however, happened: but Gregory, in an epis- 
tle to the emperor, speaking in reference to the as- 
sumed title of John and Cynacus, says, " Whoever 
adops or affects the title of universal bishop, has 
the pride and character of Antichrist, and is in some 
manner his forerunner in this haughty quality of 
elevating himself above the rest of his order. And^ 
indeed both the one and the other seem to split upon 
the same rock; for as pride makes antichrist strain 
HIS pretensions up to Godhead, so whoever is am- 
bitious to be called the only or universal prelate^ 
arrogates to himself a distinguished superiority and 
rises as it were upon the ruins of the rest»'^ d 

The above sentence, coming from such a man, 
\inder such circumstances, and in view of such a 
purpose, is extremely remarkable: for within two 
years after the death of this pontiff, the title of uni- 
versal bishop was conferred by the emperor on the 
successor of Gregory, Boniface! If, then, as Ro* 
d See Dowling's Hist. Rom. p. 65. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 231 

manists believe, Gregory is a saiiit (and he is 
canonized) and his works and words have any au- 
thority as the successor of Peter, we must believe 
that Antichrist was clearly developed in Boniface 
who took the name of universal bishop — that he 
^^ strained his pretensions up to godhead," as Paul 
had predicted! Boniface did not merely accept the 
title; he was solicitous to wear it, having actually 
entreated the emperor to bestow it upon him that 
he might hand it down to his successors. The em- 
peror complied, and in the famous year 606, confer- 
red it, declaring'at the same time the church of Rome 
head over all other churches. Popish historians au- 
thenticate these facts. At this time popery proper- 
ly begins its reign, and holds it for twelve hundred 
and sixty years, or till A. D. 1866, when in all prob- 
ability it will end in a general ruin. Its destiny is 
at hand. The coming twenty years, if I have miss- 
ed no dates, will reveal strange things in relation to 
popery. The very earth shall tremble at the crash 
of its falling fortunes! 

Let us now, in conclusion, take a view of the 
character of the man who conferred the titleof uni- 
versal bishop on the pope of Rome, in order that we 
may make a proper estimate of the authority of this 
earthly head of the church. 

Was the title conferred by an authorized spiritual 
teacher, claiming, and able to show divine creden- 
tials? By a revelation of Jesus Christ? By aa 
earthly monarch who had distinguished himself by 
labors of love, and reigning to the honor of God? 
By some David or Josiah, some prophet or apostle? 



23'2 THE NEW LTGET. 

No: it was conferred by Phocas — a mutineer in the 
army of his prince; an usurper of the empire; the 
murderer of Mauritius and his family by a series ©f 
cruelties almost unparalleled; a perfidious vilian, 
whose equal in duplicity, depravity, and all sorts of 
demoniacal vice, is not to be found in modern history; 
a murderer of a helpless matron and her innocent 
daughters; he who could cause innocent blood to 
flow like rivers to glut his fiendish lust of dominion 
—Phocas, the murderer^ the tyrant) and the most 
consummate k7iave — is the man to whom Boniface, 
the first fullrgrown pope of Rome, is indebted for 
his title of universal bishop; and to whom his suc- 
cessors, to this day, owe their dignity and authority! 
The blackness of darkness rests on their beginning, 
aad must cover and engulf their end! 



CHAPTER XVIL 
HI. Cruelties of the Roman Antichrist. 

Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve — Murder, of Admiral Coli^- 
ny — Character of Catharine de Medici — Progress of the Mas- 
sacre — Five thousand killed in seven days — The carnage ex- 
tends generally over France— Rivers filled with the dead — 

Having now traced the steps of Antichrist tiil 
we see him on the throne of his kingdom, we must 
turn our attention to a very particular characteris- 
tic by v^blch he stands eniblazpned oa the chroQi- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 233 

cles of time — a characteristic in consequence of 
which, this monster of sin and perfidy, of utter de- 
pravity and cruelty, will be remembered by all the 
good and conscientious as long as time endures. 
The true church of Christ never did, never will per- 
secute even its enemies. Persecution is a promi- 
nent feature of Antichrist, find i( where you will, 
or practise it who may. We proceed to select some 
facts in the history of Romanism which will demon- 
strate it to be the predicted "man of sin." It can- 
not be imagined that we can give any thing like a 
full account of the bloody persecutions which, from 
first to last, have been carried on by Catholics- 
against reputed heretics: this itself would require 
a ponderous volume. To tell of the cruel death of 
fifty millions of martyrs, while it would carry us be- 
yond our purpose in this volume, would too elabo- 
rately prove the evil genius of Romanism. We 
adopt the shorter method, but which, however, wull 
be found sufficiently perspicuous for our purpose. 
A few sections from prominent cases will immdiate- 
ly follow. 

I. Massacre of St. Bariholomezu's^ day. — " The 
massacre of St. Bartholomew was a plan laid by 
the infamous Catharine de Medici, queen dowager 
of France, in concert with her weak and bigoted 
son, Charles IX., for the extirpation of the French 
protestants, who were called by the name of Hugue- 
nots. Under the pretext of a marriage between 
Henry, the protestant king of Navarre, and Mar- 
garet, the sister of Charles, the Huguenots, with 
their most celebrated and favorite leader*, admiral 



234 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Coligny, had been attracted to Paris. Coligny had 
been affectionately warned by nnany of his friends 
against trusting himself at Paris, but such were the 
assurances of friendship on the part of king Charles, 
that he was thrown off his guard, and was drawn 
within the toils that popish malignity and craft had 
laid for him. On the 22d of August, an attempt 
was made to assassinate the Admiral by a shot fired 
at him in the street, by which he was wounded in 
the arm. This act was doubtless perpetrated at the 
instigation of the infamous queen mother, if not of 
her son, though that wicked woman pretended deep 
commiseration, and upon a visit to the Admiral re- 
marked, that she ' did not believe now the King 
could sleep safely in his palace.' And yet both the 
mother and son, were at that very moment, and had 
for weeks past been deliberately concocting a plan 
for the slaughter not only of Coligny, but of all his 
protestant friends, whom they had now caught in 
their toils at Paris; and in all this, no doubt, their 
popish bigotry taught them they were doing God 
service! 

At length the fatal hour had arrived. All things 
wore ready. The tocsin, at midnight, tolled the 
signal of destruction. The troops were sent forth, 
by royal command, to perform their work of death. 
The assassins rushed into Coligny's hotel, killing sev- 
eral protestant Swiss soldiers as they passed. ' Save 
yourselves, my friends,' cried the generous-minded 
ehief. 'I have long been prepared for death.' 
They obeyed his commands, and escaped through 
the tiling of the roof; and in a moment after, the 



ox ANTI-CHRIST. 235 

daggers of the popish assassins were buried in the 
heart of the noble chief of the prolestants, and his 
body ignominiouslj thrown from the window, to be 
exposed to the rude insults of the bigoted populace. 
AnQong those who escaped through the tiling was a 
protestant clergyman, M. Merlin, the chaplain of 
the Admiral. His escape was attended with a re- 
markable providential circumstance. He hid him- 
self in a hay-loft, where he was sustained three 
days by an egg each day, which a hen laid, for his 
support. 

After the death of Coligny, the slaughter soon 
extended itself to every quarter of the city, and 
when the glorious sun looked forth that morning, it 
was upon an awful spectacle. The dead and the 
dying mingled together in undistinguished heaps. 
The pavements besmeared with a path of gore, 
along which the bodies of the murdered protestants 
had been dragged to ca.^t into the waters of the 
Seine, already dyed with the blood of the slain. 
The executioners rushing through the streets, be- 
spattered with blood and brains, brandishing their 
murderous weapons, and in merriment, mimicking 
the psalm-singing of the protestants! The frantic 
Huguenots, bewildered with fright, running hither 
and thither to seek a place of safety, but in vain. 
Some ran towards the house of Coligny, but only to 
fall by the hands of the same murderers; others, re- 
membering the solemn promises of the King, and 
hoping that he was not privy to the massacre, ran 
toward the palace of the Louvre, but only to meet a 
more certain and speedy death; for, even Charles 



236 THE NEW LIGHT. 

himself fired upon the fugitives from the window of 
the palace, shouting with the fiend-like fury of a 
devil or an inquisitor, ''Kill them! kill them!" 

The Louvre itself was a frightful seene of slaugh- 
ter. The protestants who had remained there, in 
the train of the king of Navarre, were called out 
one by one, aud put to death in cold blood, under 
the very eyes of the king. Even the protestant 
king of Navarre himself had been ushered into the 
presence of Charles through long lines of soldiers 
thirsting for his blood, and commanded with oaths 
to renounce the protestant faith, and was then, to- 
gether with the prince of Conde, thrust into prison, 
and informed that unless they embraced the Roman 
Catholic faith in three days, they would be cxecu' 
ted for treason. In the meanwhile the woik of 
slaughter went forward, and during seven days, at 
the lowestcomputation, 5000 protestants were mur- 
dered in the city of Paris alone. 

The whole city was one great butchery and flowed 
with human blood. The c(»urt was heaped with the 
slain, on which the Kin^ and Queen gazed, not 
with horror, but with delight. Her majesty un- 
blushingiy feasted her eyes on the spectacle of thou- 
sands of mGn,expos^ed naked, and lying wounded 
and frightful in the pale livery .of death. The king 
went to see the body of admiral Coligny, which was 
dragged by the populace through the streets; and 
remarked, in unfeeling witticism, that the '^ smell of 
a dead enemy was agrceab'e.^^ 

The tragedy was not confined to Paris, but ex- 
tended, in g.eneral, through the French nation. Sps^ 



ON ANTI- CHRIST. 237 

cial messengers were, on the preceding day, dis- 
patched in all directions, ordering a general massa- 
cre of the Huguenots* The carnage, in consequence^ 
was made through nearly all the provinces, and es- 
pecially in Meaux, Troyes, Orleans, Nevers, Lyons^ 
Thoulouse, Bordeaux, and Rouen. Twenty-five or 
thirty thousand, according to Mezery, perished in 
different places. Many were thrown into the riv- 
ers, which, floating the corpses on the waves, carried 
horror and infection to all the country, which they 
watered with their streams. The populace, tutored 
by the priesthood, accounted themselves, in shedding 
heretical blood, Hhe agents of Divine justice,' and 
engaged 'in doing God service.' The King, accom- 
panied with the Queen and princes of the blood, 
and all the French court, went to the Parliament, 
and acknowledged that all these sanguinary trans- 
actions were done by his authority. 'The Parlia- 
ment publicly eulogized the King's wisdom,^ which 
had effected the eff^usion of so much heretical blood. 
His Majesty also went to mass, and returned solemn 
thanks to God for the glorious victory obtained over 
heresy. He ordered medals to be coined to perpet- 
uate its memory. A Medal accordingly was struck 
for the purpose with this inscription, PIETY EX- 
CITED JUSTICE. 

The King sent a special messenger to the Pope to 
announce to him the joyful intelligence of the extir- 
pation of the protestants, and to tell him that 'the 
Seine flowed on more majestically after receiving 
the dead bodies of the heretics.^ Nothing could ex- 
ceed the joy with which the news was received at 



23S THE NEW LIGHT. 

Rome. The Pope and cardinals went in procession 
to the church of St. Louis to return solemn thanks 
to God (oh, horrible impiety!) for the extirpation of 
the heretics. T& Deum was sung, and the firing of 
cannon announced the welcome news to the neigh- 
borhood around. The Pope's legate in France fel- 
icitated his most Christian majesty in the Pontiff's 
name, ^ and praised the exploit, so long meditated 
and so happiJj executed, for the good of religion.' 
The massacre, says Mezeraj, 'was extolled before 
the King as the triumph of the church.' 

The Pope was not satisiied with a temporary ex- 
pression of his joy. He caused a more enduring 
memorial to be struck in the form of triumphant 
medals in commemoration and honor of the event. 
These medals represented on one side an angel car- 
rying a sword in one hand, and a crucifix in the oth- 
er, employed in the slaughter of a group of here- 
tics, with the words hugonotorum strages (slaugh- 
ter of the Huguenots), 1572; on the other side, the 
name and title of the reigning Pope. A new issue 
of this celebrated medal in honor of the Bartholo- 
mew massacre has recently been struck from the 
papal mint at Rome, and sold for the profit of the 
papal government. 

Such was the joy of the cardinal of Lorraine 
Cwhom we have already seen closing the council of 
Trent with anathemas against heretics), upon re- 
ceiving the news at Rome, that he presented the 
messenger with one thousand pieces of gold, and, 
unable to restrain the extravagance of his delight, 
exclaimed aloud that «he believed the King's heart 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 239 

must have been filled with a sudden inspiration 
from God when he gave orlters for the slaughter of 
the heretics/ Another Cardinal, Santorio, after- 
wards pope Clement VIII.5 in his autobiography, 
designates the massacre as 'the celebrated day of 
St. Bartholomew, most cheeinng to the Catholics*^ 
Thus is it by the joy of the Pope and cardinals at 
the massacre, by the medal struck in its commemo- 
ration and honor, and by their solemn thanksgivings 
for the happy events, without alluding to the proofs 
(by no means inconsiderable) of a previous corres- 
pondence between the Pope and the King, that this 
horrible slaughter is fixed as another dark and dam- 
ning spot upon the blood-stained escutcheon of 
Rome." a 

What moral are we to deduce from the horrid 
scenes we have now portrayed? These Huguenots 
were a class of Reformers who could not submit to 
the superstitions and traditions of Rome, and for 
this reason, and this reason only, they were hunted 
and massacred in the manner we have seen. Had 
these persons been Catholics and covered with the 
worst crimes, that mark would have secured them 
from this persecution. They were not Catholics; 
therefore they had to die! 

How much of the spirit of Christ was possessed 
by those hard hearted nobles and despots who could 
baptize their garments in the blood of martyrs? 
Did the Pope resemble Christ, when he rejoiced in 
the results of this bloody tragedy? When Christ 
was on earth and had all power in his hands, did be 
command the fires of heaven or the swords of assas- 
a Dowling p. 587—593. 



340 THS NEW LIQIITo 

sins to do his will? If he did not, were they his ser- 
vants who slaughtered npn, women, and innocent 
children, because they did not give themselves up to 
the will of an imperious dictator and lord, to be 
ruled and swayed in matters of conscience? If the 
servants of Christ are allowed to stain their hands 
thus in the blood of the innocent, can any rule be 
given by v/hich we shall be able to identify and 
show the servants of the devil? And if the mere 
name Catholic can atone for the red and hellish sin 
of persecution, then there is power in a name be- 
yond all that reason, philosophy, common sense and 
scripture have given us any clue to investigate. But 
the truth is, this boasted Catholicism is antichrist;' 
and were there no other evidence /or saying so than 
the above horrible massacre, all reasonable and feel- 
ing men would say. It is enough! 

Contrast with this Romanist spirit, this spirit of 
banditti, this restless, ambitious, and murderous spir- 
it which stops at nothing however cruel and unfeel- 
ing to elevate a mortal man above his brethren, — 
contrast /A/s spirit, with that of the apostles of Jesus 
and the primitive christians, and you cannot fail to 
determine where the truth may be found. The spir- 
it of the gospel hated the world; that of Romanism 
loves it. The spirit of the gospel led its possessors 
to be patient and meek, to bear all things, and to 
love the enemies of the truth. The spirit of pope- 
ry is restless, ambitious, impatient, proud, imperious, 
and hates all good men: it has even hunted and de- 
stroyed them, and would hunt and destroy thenri 
from the land of the living. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 241 

But in the United States, popery has put on a ve- 
ry pleasant appearance. Her priests here are most 
polite and obliging. They would cover the sins of 
their church by the mantle of a fair and courte- 
ous behavior. They would live down the remem- 
brance of former days, and by the smell of spicery 
destroy the scent of blood which they know issues 
from their garments. By schools and colleges they 
would make the impression that they are the advo- 
cates of a general intelligence among the people* 
But reader, believe them not. Romanism is the 
same. She has never revoked her bloody decrees, 
or confessed her sins. Once drunken with the blood 
of saints, she never will be cured of her delirium! 
She is the '• mother of harlots and of the abom- 
inations OF THE EARTH." 

11. Some special cases of persecution. — " It would 
be improper entirely to omit, and yet it is not neces- 
sary minutely to describe the well known cruel bur- 
nings of the English protestants, during the reign of 
the bigoted and hard-hearted woman, whose name 
has been appropriately handed down to posterity 
as'^BLooDY Queen Mary. And it seems proper to 
commence these few sketches of persecutions of 
Popery, with the recital of the sufferings of the 
Marian martyrs, as they all occurred during the in- 
terval that elapsed between the second adjournment 
and the resumption of the council of Trent already 
described. 

During her brief reign of five years, according to 
t}ie lowest calculations, two hundred and eighty. 
EiGHT persons WERE BURNED ALIVE, by hcr ordcr 
16 



243 THE NEW LIGHT* l| 

for the crime of heresy, and among them were the 
wealthy and the poor, the priest and the layman., 
the merchant, and the farmer, the blind and the 
lame, the helpless female and the new-born babe<. 
The persecutions did not commence in the first 
year of her reign. She was proclaimed Queen on 
the 17th of July, 1553, and it was not till the eomr 
mencement of 1555 that the venerable John Rog- 
ers, the protomartyr of the Marian persecution, 
sealed the truth with his blood by being burnt alive ; 
at Smithfield. He suffered on the 4th of February, 
1555. The number of heretics burnt alive in Eng- 
land, in 1555^ was seventy-one; in 1556, eighty-nine; 
in 1557, eighty-eight;, and in 1558, forty. Thenumr 
ber of the victims would have been largely swell- 
ed, had not death relieved the world of the presr 
ence and tyranny of this popish monster in the 
shape of a women, on the 17th of November, 1558. 

The names of Rogers, and Saunders, and Hoop- 
er; of Taylor, and Bradford, and Philpot; of Latir . 
mer, and Ridley, and Cranmer; and of their mar* 
tyred associates, have become familiar as household 
words to their protestant descendants of England 
and America; and the oft-repeated story of their 
painful but triumphant deaths, amidst the torturing 
fires of martyrdom, continues to preach loudly and 
eloquently of the cruelty and bigotry of Rome. 
Our limits will allow but a brief sketch of the mar- 
tyrdom of the three last-mentioned of the nine wor- 
thies whose names have been cited above. 

Bishops Latimer and Ridley were two of the 
ablest as well as holiest of the martyrs whose blood 



0X ANTI-CHRIST. 243 

was offered as a sacrifice upon the altar of popish 
bigotry during the reign of Mary. 

Hugh Latimer was born about 1472, and was 
now, therefore, upwards of fourscore years old» 
He had been a prominent man, in the reign of the 
licentious Henry VHL, the father of queen Mary, 
and was appointed by him to the bishopric of Wor- 
cester. It is related of Latimer, as an instance of 
his faithfulness, that on new year's day, when,, ac- 
cording to the prevailing custom, the eminent men 
of the land presented the King with a new year's 
gift, his gift consisted of a copy of the New Testa- 
ment, with the passage marked, and the leaf turned 
down to the words, " Whore^iongers and ADUii- 
TERERS God WII.L JUDGE.-'^ Thosc acquainted with 
the history of the adulterous Henry VHL need not 
be told how applicable was the reproof to his char- 
acter. 

When this faithful and venerable man was^ appre- 
hended by order of the bloody Mary, he said to the 
officer, "My friend, you are a welcome messenger 
to me;" and in passing through Smithfield, where so 
many of the martyrs of Jesus had been burned alive, 
he remarked, "Smithfield hath long groaned forme" 
He suffered a long and cruel imprisonment in tlie 
Tower previous to his martyrdom.. One day, when 
sutTering from, the severe frost and denied the com- 
fort of a fire^ the aged sufferer pleasently remarked 
to his keeper, that if he were not taken better care 
of, he should certainly escape out of his enemies' 
hands, meaning that he should perish with cold and 
hardship, and thus escape the burning intended for 
him by his enemies.. 



244 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Nicholas Ridley was born in the year 1500, had 
been chaplain to the pious youth, king Edward VI., 
the predecessor of Mary, and had been appointed 
by him bishop of London. Upon the accession of 
Mary, he was soon seized and committed to the 
Tower, where he and Latimer continued during the 
winter of 1553 and 1554, and wer6 afterwards re- 
moved to Oxford, and lodged in a commcn prison. 
In the year 1555, a commis ion was issued to sever-, 
al popish bishops to proceed against these two holy 
men. Full accounts arc given by Fox of the vari- 
ous disputations they held with the martyrs. It is 
sufiicierxt here to remnrk, that neither threats nor 
promises could shal: , ueir constancy, and that in 
everv interview the^; came off triumphant over all 
the a iments of tL^ir popish opponents, by whom 
they ...re cohdeih..ed to be degraded, and deliver- 
ed up to che sec. u.. power.'' 

"On the follow aig day, October l6th, 1555, Lati- 
mer and Ridley were brought to the stake, which 
was prepared in a hollow, near Baliol college, on 
the north side of the city of Oxford. The venera- 
ble Latimer being stripped for the stake, appeared) 
in a shroud prepared for the occasion; and now, 
says Fox, " a remarkable change was observed in 
his appearance; for whereas he had hitherto seemed 
a withered, decrepit, and even a deformed old man, 
he now stood perfectly upright, a straight and come- 
ly person. Ridley was disposed to remain in his- 
trousers; but on his brother observing that it wouldJ 
occasion him more pain, and that the article of 
dress would do some poor man good, he yielded to 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 245 

fhe latter plea, and saying, ^' Be it, in the name of 
God," delivered it to his brother. Then, being 
stripped to his shirt, he stood upon a stone by the 
stake, and holding up his hand, said, " heavenly 
Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks, for 
that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, 
even unto death: I beseech thee. Lord God, take 
mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the 
same from all her enemies." The smith now- 
brought a chain, and passed it round the bodies of 
the two martyrs, as they quietly stood on either 
side of the stake: while he was hammering the sta- 
ple into the wood, Ridley took the chain in his hand, 
and shaking it, said, "Good fellow, knock it in 
hard, for the flesh will have its course." This be- 
ing done, Shipside brought him some gunpowder in 
a bag to tie round his neck; which he received as 
sent of God, to be a means of shortening his tor- 
ment; at the same tim.e inquiring whether he had 
any for his brother, meaning Latimer, and hasten- 
ing him to give it immediately, lest it might come 
too late; which was done. A lighted faggot was 
then brought, and laid down at his (eet^ on which 
Latimer turned and addressed him in those memo- 
rable and prophetic words, "Be of good comfort, 
Mr. Ridley, and play the man: "we shall this^ 

DAY LIGHT SUCH A CANDLE. BY God's GRACE, IN ENG- 
LAND, AS, I TRUST, SHALL NEVER BE PUT OUT." 

The flames rose; and Ridley in a wonderfully 
loud voice exclaimed in Latin, " Into thy hands, O 
Lord, I commend my spirit," often repeating in 
English, "Lord receive my spirit!" Latimer on 



346 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the other side as vehemently crying out, "O Father 
of heaven receive my soulP' and welcoming, as it 
were, the flame, he embraced it, bathed his hands 
in it, stroked his venerable face with them, and soon 
died, seemingly with little pain, or none. So ended 
this old and blessed servant of God, his laborious 
works, and fruitful life, by an easy and quiet death 
in the midst of the fire, into which he cheerfully 
entered for Christ's sake. But it pleased the Lord 
to glorify himself otherwise m Ridley: his torments 
were terrible, and protracted to an extent that it 
sickens the heart to contemplate. The fire had 
been made so ill, by heaping a great quantity of 
heavy faggots very high about him, above the light- 
er combustibles, that the solid wood kept down the 
flame, causing it to rage intensely beneath, without 
ascending. The martyr finding his lower extremi-^* 
ties only burning, requested those a\)out him, for 
Christ's sake, to let the fire come to him; which his 
poor brother Shipside hearing, and in the anguish of 
his spirit not rightly understanding, he heaped more 
faggots on the pile, hoping so to hasten the confla- 
gration, which of course was further repressed by 
it, and became more vehement beneath, burning tol 
a cinder all the nether parts of the sufferer, with- 
out approaching the vitals. In this horrible state, 
he continued to leap up and down under the wood, 
praying them to let the fire come, and repeatedly 
exclaiming, '^ I cannot burn," writhing in the tor- 
ture, as he turned from side to side, the bystanders 
saw even his shirt unconsumed, clean, and unscorch- 
ed by the flame, while his legs were totally burnt off* 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 247 

In such extremity his heart was still fixed, trusting 
in his God, and ejaculating frequently, "Lord, have 
Hiercy upon me!" intermingling it with entreaties, 
** Let the fire come upon me — I cannot burn." At 
last one of the bill-men with his weapon mercifully 
pulled away the faggots from above, so giving the 
flame power to rise; which the sufferer no sooner 
saw, than with an eager effort he wrenched his mu- 
tilated body to that side, to meet the welcome de- 
liverance. The flame now touched the gunpowder, 
and he was seen to stir no more; but after burning 
awhile on the other side, he fell over the chain at 
the feet of Latimer's corpse. 

k Such are thy tender mercies, tyrant Rome! 

The rack, the faggot, or the hated creed — 
Fearless amidst thy folds fierce wolves may roam, 
Whilst stainless sheep upon thine altars bleed. 

Let the Christian reader now draw nigh and con- 
template this painful scene — the venerable form of 
the holy Latimer, with his snowy locks whitened by 
the frosts of eighty-three winters, dressed in his 
shroud, directing his eyes upward to heaven for 
strength as the torturing flames gather and wrap 
themselves around his aged and quivering limbs, and 
yet amidst his tortures praying for his tormentors — 
the stately and noble form of his companion Ridley, 
chained to the same stake, with his feet and legs 
actually burning to a cinder, till they fall from his 
tortured body; before death, the welcome deliverer, 
has done his work — then let him contemplate the 
cowled priest of Rome, with cross in hand, insulting 
the dying agonies of the martyrs, and rejoicing in 



248 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



their protracted and excruciating torments— and 
remember that this, stripped of disguise or conceal- 
ment— this IS Popery— "DRUNK with the blood, 
OP the saints and of the martyrs op Jesus." 

Well does that gifted authoress, Mrs. Tonna, ex- 
claim, after citing the description of the horrible 
tortures inflicted upon these two holy men, « Wo 
unto us, if, with these examples before us, we shrink 
not from touching, even the outermost fringe of that 
harlot's polluted garments! There is that mingled 
with the dust of Oxford which will rise up in the 
judgment, a terrible witness against those who, while 
trampling on the ashes of the martjrs, shall dare to 
suggest any, even the slightest measure of approxi- 
mation to the apostate church— c?iy recognitiori of 
her, otherwise than as the deeply accursed enemy 
OP Christ and his saints." 

Thomas Cranmer was born in 1489, and had 
been appointed by Henry VIII. archbishop of Can- 
terbury. During the brief reign of the youthful 
Edward VL, Cranmer (though not entirely free from 
the contamination of the doctrine of Rome, the 
right to persecute for conscience sake) was one of 
the principal agents in advancing the reformation in 
England. Upon the accession of bloody Mary, he 
was soon marked out as a conspicuous victim for 
papal fury. His closing days are clouded, as were 
those of Jerome of Prague, by his signature to a 
written recantation, obtained from him by his ene- 
mies, by the means of the pro.^pect they held out to 
him of life and comfort, after nearly three years of 
cruel and rigorous imprisonment; yet, like the Bo 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 249 

hemlan reformer, he bitterly repented this act of 
natural weakness, and showed the sincerity of that 
repentance, by his extraordinary courage and con- 
stancy, amidst the fires of martyrdom. After Cran- 
mer had signed this document, he soon found reason 
to suspect that his popish enemies would still not be 
satisfied without his blood; and in the estimation of 
some, this circumstance may, perhaps, tend to cast 
a shade of doubt over his dying protestations. No 
one, however, who will carefully consider the 
circumstances of the last few hours of his life 
(which we shall now proceed to narrate), can reason- 
ably doubt that his penitence for this act of pardon- 
able weakness was sincere, that the same Jesus who 
cast a look of love, and melted the heart of Peter, 
who had denied him, sustained the dying Cranmer 
by his presence and his smiles, and welcomed the 
ransomed spirit of the departed martyr to the abodes 
of the blessed. 

It is generally thought that Cranmer was not in- 
formed of the determination to put him to death, 
till the morning when he was to suffer. About nine 
A. M., of the 2ist of March, 1556, he was taken to 
St. Mary's church, Oxford, to listen to a sermon by 
Doctor Cole, preached at the church instead of at 
the place of execution, on account of its being a 
very rainy day. 

A Romanist who was present, and who expressed 
the opinion "that the former life and wretched end 
of Cranmer deserved a greater misery, if greater 
had been possible," was yet, in spite of his heart- 
hardening opinions, touched with compassion ai be- 



250 THE NEW LIGHT. 

holding him in a bare and ragged gown, and ill* 
favoredlj clothed with an old square cap, exposed 
to the contempt of all men. ^'I think,'' said he, 
" there was none that pitied not his case, and be- 
wailed not his fortune, and feared not his own 
chance, t<^ see so noble a prelate, so grave a counsel- 
lor, of so long continued honor, after so many dig- 
nities, in his old years to be deprived of his estate^ 
adjudged to die, and in so painful a death to end his 
life." When he had ascended the stage, he knelt 
and prayed, weeping so profuselj^, that many, even 
of the papists, were moved to tears. 

While Cole was preaching the sermon , in which he 
endeavored to make the best apology possible for 
the act of the Queen in consigning Cranmer to the 
flames, the venerable martyr himself seemed over- 
whelmed with the v/eightof sorrow and penitence. 
"With what great grief of mind he stood hearing 
this sermon," says good John Fox, in his own simple 
and beautiful style, "the outward shows of his body 
and countenance did better express, than any man 
can declare: one while lifting up his hands and eyes 
unto heaven, and then again for shame letting them 
down to the earth. A man might have seen the 
very image and shape of perfect sorrow lively in 
him expressed. More than twenty several times the 
tears gushed out abundantly, dropping down from 
his fatherly face. Those which were present testi- 
fy that they never saw, in any child, more tears than 
burst out from him at that time. It is mavellous what 
commiseration and pity moved all men's hearts that 
beheld so heavy a countenance, and such abundance 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 251 

of tears, in an old man of so reverend dignity.'^ 
Withal he ever retained "a quiet and grave beha- 
vior.'^ In this hour of utter humiliation and severe 
repentance, he possessed his soul in patience. Nev- 
er had his mind been more clear and collected, nev- 
er had his heart been so strong. After the sermon^ 
Cole exhorted Cranmer to testify before the people 
the sincerity of his conversion and repentance, that 
all men might understand that he was ''a Catholic 
indeed." 

"I will do it," replied Cranmer, "and that with a 
good will." He then rose from his knees, and, put- 
ting off his cap, said, "Good Christian people, my 
dearly-beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, I be- 
seech you most heartily to pray to Almighty God, 
that he will forgive me my sins and offences, which 
be many without number, and great above measure. 
But among all the rest, there is one which grieveth 
my conscience most of all, whereof you shall hear 
more in its proper place." He then knelt down, and 
offered up a touching and fervent prayer, speaking 
of himself as "a most wretched caitiff and misera- 
ble sinner." Rising from his knees, he proceeded 
to address the assembled multitude, giving them ma- 
ny pious and godly exhortations, before touching 
upon the point which all were anxiously expecting 
to hear — whether he was about to die in the Romish 
or protestant faith. 

At length he said: "And now, forasmuch as I am 
come to th^ last end of my life, whereupon hangeth 
all my life past, and all my life to come, either to live 
with my Master Christ for ever in joy, or else to be 



252 , THE NEW LIGHT. 

in pain for ever with wicked devils in hell (and I 
see before mine eyes presently either heaven ready 
to receive me, or else hell ready to swallow me up); 
I shall therefore declare unto you my very faith, 
how I believe, without any color of dissimulation; 
for now is no time to dissemble, whatsoever I have 
said or written in times past/^ He then repeated 
the Apostles' creed, and declared his belief in eve- 
ry article of the true Catholic faith, every word and 
sentence taught by our Saviour, his Apostles, and 
prophets, and in the New and Old Testament. 
''And now,^' he continued, "I come to the great 
thing zvhich trouble th my conscience more than any- 
thing that ever I said or did in my whole life, and 
that is, the setting abroad of zvritings contrary to the 
truth; which now here I renounce and refuse as 
things written with my hand, contrary to the truth 
which 1 thought in my heart." Hitherto, with con- 
summate skill, the martyr had avoided a single word 
which could indicate to his popish persecutors the 
unexpected blow they were about to receive. Up 
to this time, probably, the multitude of Romanists 
had expected him to confirm his recantation, and 
supposed that the writings to which he had just re- 
ferred and which he now renounced were those 
which he had published in opposition to the doc- 
trines of Home. This illusion was dissipated, when, 
in the next sentence, he spoke of those writings 
as — ''zorilten fur fear of deaths and to save my life, 
if it might be: and that is, all such bills and papers 
as I have written or signed with my hand since my 
degradations, wherein 1 have written many things 
untrue. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 253 

^' And," proceeded Cranmer, '^ forasmuch as my 
hand offended, writing contrary to my heart, my 
hand shall first be punished therefore; for may I 
come to the fire, it shall be first burnt!" He had 
time to add, " As for the Pope, I refuse him as anti^ 
Christ\ as for the Sacrament, I believe as I have 
taught in my book against the bishop of Winches- 
ter, the which my book teachcth so true a doctrine 
of the Sacrament, that it shall stand at the last day 
before the judgment of God, when the papistical 
doctrine, contrary thereto, shall be ashamed to 
show her face." 

At this unexpcted and noble confession. Cole and 
the rest of the popish priests, monks and laymen, 
were too much astonished to interrupt him, or he 
would not have been suffered to proceed so far. At 
length, an uproar was raised which prevented him 
from proceeding; Cole foaming with rage, cried from 
the pulpit — '' Stop the heretic's mouth, and take him 
away," and the priests and friars rushed upon him, 
and tore him from the stage, on which he was 
standing. 

Cranmer was quickly hurried to the stake, pre- 
pared on the ot where Latimer and Ridley had 
suffered five months before. The venerable martyr 
had now overcome the weakness of his nature and, 
after a short prayer, put off his clothes with a cheer- 
ful countenance and willing mind, and stood upright 
in his shirt, which c:ime down to his feet. His feet 
were bare; his head, when both his caps were off, 
appearec perfectly bald, but his beard was long 
and thick, and his countenance so venerable, that it 



254 THE NEW LIGHT. 

moved even his enemies to compassion. Two Span- 
ish friars, who had been chiefly instrumental, in ob- 
taining his recantation, continued ta exhort him; 
till, perceiving that their efforts were vain, one of 
them said, 'Let us leave him, for the devil is with, 
him!' Ely, who was afterward president of St. 
John's, still continued urging him to repentance* 
Cranmer replied, he repented his recantation^ and 
in the spirit of charity offered his hand to Ely, as to 
others, when he bade him farewell; but the obdu- 
rate bigot drew back, and reproved those who had 
accepted such a farewell, telling them it w^as not 
lawful to act thus with one who had relapsed into 
heresy. Once more he called upon him to stand to 
his recantation* Cranmer stretched forth his right 
arm, and replied, ^^Tiiis is the hand that wkote 

IT, AND THEREFORE IT SHALL SUFFER PUNISHMENT 

EiRST.'^ True to this purpose,, as soon as the flame 
arose, he held his hand out to meet it, and retained 
it there steadfastly, so that all the people saw it sen- 
sibly burning before the fire reached any other part 
of his body; and ofen he repeated with a loud and 
firm voice, "This hand hath offended! this un- 
worthy RIGHT HAND*^^ 

. Never did martyr endure the fire with more in- 
vincible resolution; no cry was heard from him, 
save the exclamation of the protomartyr Stephen, 
^' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" He stood im- 
moveable as the stake to which he was bound, his 
countenance raised, looking to heaven, and anticipa- 
ting that rest in which he was about to enters 
and thus, " in the greatness of the flame,'' he yield- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST» 255 

ed up his spirit. The fire did its work soon . . . and 
his heart was found unconsumed amid the ashes,. 

The pile is lit — the flames ascend; 

Yet peace is in the martyr's face; 
And unseen visitants attend 

That chief of England's priestly race; 
Mightier in peril's darkest hour, 
Than when enthroned in rank and power. 

Steadfast he stood in that fierce flame, 
As standing in his own high hall: 

He said, as sadness o'er him came, 
Remembrance of his mournful fall^ 

Stretching it to the burning brand — 

'^FlRST PERISH THIS UNWORIY HANdI" 

Thy foul and a-uel deed, Rome! 

Was vain; that blazing funeral pyre- 
"Where Cranmer died, did soon become 

To England as a beacon fire; 
And he hath left a glorious name, 
Victorious over Rome and flame. 

*^ Of all the martyrdoms during this great perse.- 
cation," says Dr. Southey, " this was in all its cir- 
cumstanees the most injurious to the Romish cause. 
It was a manifestation of inveterate and deadly 
malice toward one who had borne his elevation with 
almost unexampled meekness. It effectually dis- 
proved the argument on which the Romanists res- 
ted, that the constancy of our martyrs proceeded not 
from confidence in their faith, and the strength 
which they derived therefrom; but from vainglory., 
the pride of consistency, and the shame of retract-^ 
ing what they had so long professed. Such deceit- 
ful reasoning could have no place here :^ Cranmer 



256 THE NEW LIGHT. 

had retracted; and the sincerity of his contrition for 
that sin was too plain to be denied, too public to be 
concealed, too memorable ever too be forgotten. 
The agony of his repentance had been seen by 
thousands; and tens of thousands had witnessed 
how, when that agony was past, he stood calm and 
immoveable amid the flames; a patient and willing 
holocaust; triumphant, not over his persecutors 
alone, but over himself, over the mind as well as 
the body, over fear and weakness, as well as 
death.'" a 

It would fill volumes did we give special details 
of illustrious individuals, pious and good, who have 
been sacrificed to the bloody and ambitious gen- 
ius of Romanism. The heart of tenderness and 
benevolence would quail beneath the tedious reci- 
tal. We file our plea and declaration against 
Catholicism, not doubting for a moment that w^e 
shall have against her a firey and fatal judgment 
from the insulted tribunal of the Almighty. 

a Dowlings History of Romanism 549 — 562. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 
IV. Cruelties of the Roman ANTicnRisf. 

Foundation cf the Inquisition — Pollock's Description — Modes of 
Torture — Dislocation by the pulley — Roasting the Feet — Suffo- 
cation by water — The Auto da Fe — General character of the 
Institution. 

In the preceding two or three chapters we have 
contemplated the cruelties of the Catholic church 
when she held dominion over the saints: our limits 
will not allow a full history of these enormities; but 
as a specimen and exposition of the spirit of Ro- 
nianism we will give a condensed view of the ope- 
rations of the Inquisition, that worst of all infernal 
courts, the very image and personification of all 
that is utterly sinful on the face of the earth. It 
was founded by samt Dominic in the thirteenth 
century, 

"For the history of this destructive engine of pal- 
pal cruelty, we must refer to any, or all of the au- 
thentic works of Llorente, Puigblanch, Limborch, 
Stockdale, Geddes, Dellon, and other historians of 
the Inquisition. All that we shall undertake will 
be a brief description of the treatment, tortures, 
and burnings of the unfortunate beings who writhed 
under its iron rod of oppression. 

It was impossible for even Satan himself to con- 
ceive a more horrible contrivance of torture and 
blood, than this so called Holy Inqusitiorn. There it 
was (in the words of Pollock), that the Babylonish 
harlot of the Apocalypse, 
17 



258 THE NEW LIQET^ 

* * * * « With horrid relish drank the bloodi 
Of God's peculiar children — and was drunk; 
And in her drunkenness dreamed of doing good. 
The supplicating hand of innocence^ 
That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath 
The lion pause — the groans of suffering most 
Severe were naught to her: she laughed at groans^: 
No music pleased her moEs; and no repast 
So sweet to her as blood of men redeemed 
By blood of Christ. Ambition's f elf, though mad 
And nursed on human gore, with her compared 
Was merciful. Nor did she always rage; 
She had some hours of meditation, set 
Apart, wherein she to her sludy went; 
The Inquisition model most complete 
Of perfect wickedness, where deeds were done, 
Deeds I let them ne'er be named,— and sat and planned 
Deliberately, and with most musing pains, 
How, to extremest thrill of agony. 
The flesh, and blood, and souls of holy men, 
Her victims might be wrought; and when she saw 
New tortures of her laboring fancy born, 
She leaped for joy, and made great haste to try 
Their force, — well pleased to hear a deeper groan." 

The victims of the Inquisitian were generallj ap- 
prehended by the officers of the tribunal called fa- 
miliars^ who were dispersed in large numbers over 
Spain, and other lands where the 'Holy office^ was 
established. In the dead of the night, perhaps, a 
carriage drives up, and a knock is heard at the door. 
An inquiry is made from the window, by some mem- 
ber of the family rising from his bed; 'who is there f 
The reply is the terrible words, 'Tke Holy Inquisi- 
iion^ Perhaps the inquirer has an only child, a be- 
loved and cherished daughter; and almost frozen 
with terror, he hears the words, 'Deliver up your 
daughter to the Holy Inqisilion^ — or it may be — De- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 259 

liver up your wife, your father, your brother, your 
son. No matter who is demanded, not a questian 
must be asked. Not a murmur must escape his lips, 
on pain of a like terrible fate with the destined vic- 
tim. The trembling prisoner is led out, perhaps 
totally ignorant of his crime or accuser, and immur- 
ed within those horrid walls, through which no sigh 
of agony or shriek of anguish can reach the ear of 
tender and sympathizing friends. 

The next day the family go in mourning; they be- 
wail the lost one as dead; consigned not to a peace- 
ful sepulchre, but to a living tomb; and strive to 
conceal even the tears which natural affection 
prompts, lest the next terrible summons should be 
for them. In the gloomy cell to which the victim is 
consigned, the most awful and mysterious silence 
must be preserved. Lest any of its internal secrets 
might be disclosed, no sounds were permitted to be 
heard throughout the dismal apartments of the Inqui- 
sition* The poor prisoner was not allowed to be- 
wail his fate, or, in an audible voice to offer up his 
prayeis to Him who is the refuge of the oppressed; 
nay, even to cough was to be guilty of a crime, 
which was immediately punished. Limborch tells 
us of a poor afflicted victim who was, on one occa- 
sion, heard to cough; the jailors of the Inquisition 
instantly repaired to his cell and warned him to for- 
bear, as the lightest noise was not tolerated in that 
house. The prisoner replied that it was not in his 
power to forbear; a second time they admonished 
him to desist; and when again, the poor man, una- 
ble to refrain from coughing, had repeated the of. 



260 THE NEW LIGHT. 

fence, they stripped him naked, and cruelly heat 
him. This increased his cough, for which they beat 
him so often, that at last he died through the pain 
and anguish of the stripes which he had received. 

The commonest modes of torture to force the vic- 
tims to confess or to accuse themselves, were, dislo* 
cation^ by means of pulley, rope and weights; roas- 
ting the soles of the feet: and svffccation by rcater, 
with the torment of tightened ropes. These tor- 
tures were inflicted in a sad and gloomy apartment 
called the "Hall of Torture," generally situated far 
underground in order that the shrieks of anguish 
generally forced from the miserable sufferers, might 
not interrupt the death-like silence that reigned 
through the rest of the building. 

(i) Dislocation by the pulley^ ropes^ and weights. 
In this kind of torture, according to Puigblanch, a 
pulley was fixed to the roof of the Hall, and a strong 
cord passed through it. The culprit whether male 
or female, was then seized and stripped, his arms 
forced behind his back, a cord fastened first above 
his elbows, then above his wrists, shackles put on his 
iee{^ and weights, generally of one hundred pounds, 
attached to his ancles. The poor victim, entirely 
naked, with the exception of a cloth around the 
loins, was then raised by the cord and pulley, and in 
this position was coolly admonished by the cruel in- 
quisitors to reveal all he knew. If his replies were 
unsatisfactory, sometimes stripes would be inflicted 
upon his, or her naked body, while in this dreadful- 
ly painful situation — the arms bent behind and up- 
wards, and the weight of the body, with the heavy 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 261 

irons attached, wrenching the very bones from their 
sockets. If the confessions were still unsatisfactory, 
the rope was suddenly loosened and the victim let 
fall to within a foot or two of the ground; thus 
most fearfully dislocating the arms and shoulders, 
and causing the most indescribable agony. This 
dreadful process was sometimes repeated again and 
again, till (oh horrible!) the poor mangled victim, 
with his dislocated bones, dangling on the ropes, as 
it were by his loose flesh, fainting from excessive 
pain, was hurried to his miserable dungeon, and 
thrown upon the cold damp ground, where the sur- 
geon was permittee to attend him, to set his dislo- 
cated bones and patch up his poor tortured frame, 
only to prepare him for a renewal of these horrors, 
unless in the interval he should choose to avoid 
them either by renouncing his faith, or by accusing 
himself of what he might be entirely innocent. 

(2) Roasting the soles of the feel. — In this torture 
the prisoner, whether male or female, stripped as 
before, was placed in the stocks; the soles of the 
feet were well greased with lard, and a blazing fire 
of coals in a chafing dish placed close to them, by 
the heat of which the soles of the sufferer's feet be- 
came perfectly roasted. When the violence of the 
anguish forced the poor tortured victim to shriek 
with agony, an attendant was commanded to inter- 
pose a board between the victim's i^ti and the fire, 
and he was commanded to confess or to recant; but 
if he refused to obey the command of the inquisitor, 
the board was again removed and the cruel torture 
repeated till the soles of the sufferer's feet were ac- 



269 THE NEW LIGHT. 

tually burnt away to the bone, and the poor victim, 
if he ever escaped from these horrid dungeons of 
torture and misery, was perhaps made a cripple for 
life. 

(3.) The torture of tightened ropes and suffocation 
by water was performed in the following manner. 
The victim, frequently a female, was tied to a wood- 
en horse, or hollow bench, so tightly by cords that 
they sometimes cut through the flesh of the arms, 
thighs and legs to the very bone. In this situation, 
she was obliged to swallow seven pints of water 
slowly dropped into her mouth on a piece of silk or 
linen, which was thus sometimes forced down her 
throat, and produced all the horrid sensations of 
drowning. Thus secured, vain are all her fearful 
struggles to escape from the cords that bind her — 
every motion only forces the cords further and fur- 
ther through the quivering and bleeding flesh. 

Heretics who were supposed incapable of survi- 
ving the infliction of the horrid tortures above de- 
scribed, were subjected to other contrivances for 
inflicting pain, with less danger of life. Among 
these lesser tortures was one called the torture of the 
canes. A hard piece of cane was inserted between 
each of the fingers, which were then bound togeth- 
er with a cord, and subjected to the action of a 
screw. Another of these was the torture of the die^ 
in which the prisoner was extended on the ground, 
and two pieces of iron, shaped like a die, but con- 
cave on one side, were placed on the heel of his 
right foot, then bound on fast with a rope which 
was pulled tight with a screw. Both of these kinds 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 



263 



^f torture occasioned the sufferer the most intolera- 
hie pain, but with little or no danger of life. 

Not unfrequently death ensued from the severe 
tortures of the holy office. * A young lady, who 
was incarcerated in the dungeon of the Inquisition 
at the same time with the celebrated Donna Jane 
Bohorques, will supply an instance of this kind. 
This victim of inquisitorial brutality endured the 
torture till all the members of her body were rent 
asunder by the infernal machinery of the holy of- 
fice. An interval of some days succeeded, till she 
began, notwithstanding such inhumanity, to recover. 
She was then taken back to the infliction of similar 
barbarity. Small cords were twisted round her na- 
ked arms, legs and thighs, till they cut through the 
flesh to the bone; and blood, in copious torrents, 
streamed from the lacerated veins. Eight days af- 
ter, she died of her wounds, and was translated from 
the dungeons of the Inquisition to the glory of hea- 
ven.' 

Ah, who can conceive the tale of unutterable an- 
guish that is included in a single instance of inquis- 
itorial malignity and cruelty— such, perhaps, as that 
j<3st related! A lady— a young /arf^— perhaps the 
only daughter of doating parents, as dear to them, 
reader, as your daughter to you, or mine to me — 
brought up perhaps, in the lap of luxury and refme- 
i^ent— living amid the smiles and caresses of doat- 
ing friends, and dreaming of no danger nigh. la 
an unguarded moment a sentence has escaped her, 
disrespectful to the idolatry of Rome. Perhaps she 
iias dared to say, she trusts £or salvation, not in Ma* 



264 THE NEW MGHT.. 

Tj and the saints, but in Christ alcxne. That sen- 
tence has been heard by a spy of the Holy office. 
She retires to sleep at night; at the midnight hour 
the carriage of the Inquisition stops before the door, 
and the lovely, the tender, the delicate female, upon 
whom the wind has never before been suffered to 
blow roughly, is dragged away to the damp and 
gloomy cell of the horrible Inquisition., 

Look at her, as she kneels prostrate in her gloomy 
dungeon, and implores succor from on hi^h! See 
that tear of natural anguish that trickles down her 
cheeks, as she thinks of the agony of a doating fath- 
er, of a tender mother, perhaps of a frantic be- 
trothed one, who yet dare not give utterance to their 
anguish for fear of a similar fate. She is summon- 
ed before the tribunal of the men of blood. She 
is darkly told of suspicions, of informations, but she 
knows neither their author nor their subject. She 
is commanded to confess, without knowing her ac- 
cusation, and is silent. The rough and hardened 
popish executioners are summoned, and her maiden 
modesty is outraged by her clothes being rudely 
torn from her person by cruel and bloody men. 
The command is given, the horrid torture is applied^. 
The piercing cords are bound around her tender 
limbs, till they cut through the quivering flesh, and, 
fainting, she is borne back to her gloomy dungeon. 
]^o father's hand is there in that gloomy dungeon to 
wipe away those tears, no mother's hand to stanch 
and to bind up those bleeding w^ounds. She flies to 
the throne of grace for help (where else can she?) 
aud she feek that Jesus 13 with her.. In a few days, 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 265- 

she is carried, all pale, enfeebled and emaeialed, be- 
fore her iron-hearted judges^ 

She is again examined, and the horrible process of 
outrage and torture is repeated. She is carried 
back to her dungeon, to breathe her sighs to the cold 
stone walls, to linger alone, and suffering for a few 
days, and then her ransomed spirit quits ihe tortur- 
ed body, and wings its way to Heaven. Her mourn- 
ing friends know not of her death, for no news is 
suffered to transpire beyond those gloomy walls* 
But there is ONE who. knows, ONE who sees, and 
in his book are recorded all the groans and sighs of 
that poor sufferer, to be brought forth in fearful reck- 
oning against her murderers in another day. 

When the mind has formed an accurate and vivid 
conception of a single case like this, then let it be 
remembered that it is but one of thousands and tens 
of thousands of equally barbarous instances of po- 
pish persecution, cruelty and torture; and that for 
ages, in lands that groaned under the iron rod of 
Popery, these horrors were of daily occurrence. 

O merciful and compassionate God! what deeds 
of cruelty and blood have been perpetrated upoa 
thy suffering children, in the name of HIM whose 
very heart is tenderness, and whose "very name is 
LOVE! 

The ne!xt scene in this melancholy tragedy is the 
autu da fe. This horrid and tremendous spectacle 
is always represented on the Sabbath day. The 
term auto da fe (net of faith) is applied 'o the great 
burning of heretics, when large numbers of these 
tortured and lacerated beings are led forth from their 



266 THE NEW LIGHT. 

gloomy cells, and marched in procession to the 
place of burning, dressed according to the fate that 
awaits them on that terrible day. The victims who 
walk in the procession wear the san benito, the cor- 
oza, the rope around the neck, and carry in their 
hand a yellow wax candle. The san benilo is a peni- 
tential garment or tunic of yellow cloth reaching 
down to the knees, and on it is painted the picture of 
the person who wears it, burning in the flames, with 
figures of dragons and devils in the act of fanning 
the flames. This costume indicates that the wearer 
is to be burnt alive as an incorrigible heretic. If 
the person is only to do penance, then the san benito 
has on it a cross, and no paintings or flames. If an 
impenitent is converted just before being led out, 
then the san benito is painted with the flames down- 
ward; this is called 'fuego repolto,' and it indicates 
that the wearer is not to be burnt alive, but to have 
the favor of being strangled before the fire is ap- 
plied to the pile. Formerly these garments were 
hung up in the churches as eternal monuments of 
disgrace to their wearers, and as the trophies of the 
Inquisition. The coroza is a pasteboard cap, three 
feet high, and ending in a point. On it are likewise 
painted crosses, flames, and devils. In Spanish 
America it was customary to add long twisted tails 
to the corozas. Some of the victims have gags in 
their mouths, of which a number is kept in reserve in 
case the victims, as they march along in public, 
should become outrageous, insult the tribunal, or at- 
tempt to reveal any secrets* 

The prisoners who are to be roasted alive have a 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 267 

Jesuit on each side continually preaching to them to 
abjure their heresies, and if anj one attempts to of- 
fer one word in defence of the doctrines for which 
he is going to suffer death, his mouth is instantly gag- 
ged, ''This I saw done to a prisoner,' says Dr. Ged- 
des, in his account of the Inquisition in Portugal, 
'presently after he came out of the gates of the In- 
quisition, upon his having looked up to the sun, which 
he had not seen before in several years, and cried 
out in a rapture, 'How is it possible for people that 
behold that glorious body to worship any being but 
Him that created it.'" 

When the procession arrives at the place where 
a large scaffolding has been erected for their re- 
ception, prayers are offered up, strange to tell, at a 
throne of mercy, and a sermon is preached, consis- 
ting of impious praises of the Inquisition, and bit- 
ter invectives against all heretics; after which a 
priest ascends a desk, and recites the final sentence. 
This is done in the following words, wherein the 
reader will find nothing but a shocking mixture of 
blasphemy, ferociousness, and hypocrisy. 

'We, the inquisitors of heretical pravity, having, 

with the concurrence of the most illustrious N , 

lord archbishop of Lisbon, or of his deputy, N , 

calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
of his glorious mother, the Virgin Mary, and sitting 
on our tribunal, and judging with the holy gospels 
lying before us, so that our judgment may be in the 
sight of God, and our eyes may behold what is just 
iti all matters, &c. &c. 

^We do therefore, by this our sentence put in wri* 



268 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ting, define, pronounce, declare, and sentence thee 
(the prisoner), of the city of i^isbon, to be a convic- 
ted, confessing, affirmative, and professed heretic; 
and to be delivered and left by us as such lo the 
secular arm; and we, by this our sentence, do cast 
thee out of the ecclesiastical court as a convicted, 
confessing, affirmative, and professed heretic; and 
we do leave and deliver thee to the secular arm, and 
to the power of the secular court, but at the same time 
do most earnestly beseech that court so to moderate its seu" 
ioice as not to touch thy bloody nor to put thy life in any 
sort of danger,^ 

Well may Dr. Geddes inquire, in reference to 
this hypocritical mocery of God and man, 'Is there 
in all history an instance of so gross and confident a 
mockery of God, and the world, as this of the in- 
quisitors beseeching the civil magistrate not to put 
the heretics they have condemned and delivered to 
them, to death? For were they in earnest when 
they made this solemn petition to the secular mag- 
istrates, why do they bring their prisoners out of 
the Inquisition, and deliver them to those magis- 
trates in coats painted over with flames? Why do 
they teach that heretics, above all other malefac- 
tors, ought to be punished with death? And whj 
do they never resent the secular magistrates having 
so little regard to their earnest and joint petition aa 
never to fail to burn all the heretics that are deliv- 
ered to them by the Inquisition, wiihin an hour or 
two after they have them in their hands? And why 
in Home^ where the supreme civile as well as ecclesiasti- 
cal authority are lodged in the same person, is this 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 269 

petition of the Inquisition, which is made there as 
well as in other places, never granted?^ 

If the prisoner, on being asked, sajs that he will 
die in the Catholic faith, he has the privilege of be- 
ing strangled first, and then burnt; but if in the 
Protestant or any other faith different from the Cath- 
olic, he must be roasted alive; and, at parting with 
him, his ghostly comforlers^ the Jesuites, tell him, 
Hhatthey leave him to the devil, who is standing at 
his elbow to receive his soul and carry it to the 
flames of hell, as soon as the spirit leaves his body.' 
When all \s ready, fire is applied to the immense 
pile, and the snfTering martyrs, who have been se- 
curely fastened to their stakes, are roasted alive; 
the living flesh of the lower extremities being often 
burnt and crisped by the action of the flames, driv- 
en hither and thither by the wind before the vital 
parts are touched; and while the poor sufferers are 
writhing in inconceivable agony, the joy of the vast 
multitude, inflamed by popish bigotry and cruelty, 
causes the air to resound with shouts of exultation 
and delight. Says Dr. Geddes, in a description of 
one of these auto da fes^ of which he was a horrified 
spectator: ^The victims were chained to stakes, at 
the height of about four feet from the ground. A 
qiiantity of furze that lay round the bottom of the 
stakes was set on fire; by a current of wind it was 
in some cases prevented from reaching above the 
lowest extremities of the body. Some were thus 
kept in torture for an hour or two, and were actual- 
ly roasted, not burnt to death. 'This spectacle,' 
says be, 'is beheld by people of both sexes, and all 



270 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ages, with such transports of joy and satisfaction, as 
are not on any other occasion to be met with. And 
that the reader may not think that this inhuman joy 
is the effect of a natural cruelty that is in this peo- 
ple's disposition, and not the spirit of their religion, 
he may rest assured, that all public malefactors, ex- 
cept heretics, have their violent death nowhere more 
tenderly lamented, than amongst the same people, 
and even when there is nothing in the manner of 
their death that appears inhuman or cruel.' 

It was not uncommon for the popish kings and 
queens of Spain to witness these wholesale burnings 
of heretics from a magnificent stage and canopy 
erected for the purpose, and it was represented by 
the Jesuit priests as an act highly meritorious in the 
king to supply a faggot for the pile upon which the 
heretics were to be consumed. Among other in- 
stances of this kind, king Charles II., in an av,to da 
Je, supplied a faggot, the sticks of which were gild- 
ed, adorned by flowers, and tied up with ribands, and 
was honored by being the first faggot placed upon 
the pile of burning. In 1559, king Philip, the po- 
pish husband of bloody queen , Mary of England, 
was witnessing one of these cruel scenes, when a 
protestant nobleman named Don Carlos de Seso, 
while he was being conducted to the stake, called 
out to the King for mercy in these words: 'And 
canst thou, oh king, witness the torments of thy sub- 
jects? Save us from this cruel death; we do not de- 
serve it.' 'No, 'replied the iron-hearted bigoted mon- 
arch, 'I would myself carry wood to hum my own son^ 
were he sach a wretch as thou*? Thus is it that po- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 2^1 

pish bigotry can stifle the strongest and tenderest in- 
stincts of our nature, turn human beings into moii- 
sters, and inspire joj and delight at witnessing th^ 
writhing agonies and hearing the piercing shrieks 
of even tender and delicate women^ as their hving bod- 
ies are being roasted amidst the fires of the auio 
da /e..'^ a. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
V. Superstitions of the Roman Antichrist. 

Catholic Miracles — Two points established — The Breviary or Ro- 
mish Prayer-Book introduced — Miracles of the Breviary — Spu- 
rious Records of Early Martyrs — Cyprian and Justina — Gross 
Forgeries sanctioned by the prayer-book — The Pope borrows 
and rides a Lady's Horse, which afterwards would not carry 
her I — Popery striving to subvert American Liberty. 

From contemplating the cruelties and oppres- 
sions practised by the church of Rome, we pass, in 
the next place, to give a few instances of her fool- 
ish and impious superstitions. Ten thousand facts 
might be presented under this head, perfectly well 
attested; bul we must be content to make a selec- 
tion from the mass as a sam.ple of the whole. The 
reader may be assured that the followinc^ instances 
are true and reliable, the parts and parcels of a 
system which is built on falsehood and which fills 
her ten thousand channels with the dark and bitter 
waters of mischief and sin- 

a Dowling's History of Romanism, p,- 567—579, 



S72 THE NEW LIGHT. 

It is well known that Catholics assert the exis- 
tence of numerous miracles among them, and that 
hj these the true catholicity of the Roman church 
is illustrated and confirmed. We will, in this chap- 
ter, treat the reader to a few of those miracles — 
and they are not such as Protestants may have in- 
vented for them, but such as have been recorded by 
themselves in their books of devotion, and which, 
therefore, enter into and make up a part of the re- 
ligion of Catholics. 

From the following facts, two important points, if 
no more, will be established; Firsts That Roman 
Catholicism tends directly to keep true knowledge 
from the mass of the people: Secondly^ That by her 
constant appeals to miracles which are and must be 
false, the Roman church proves herself to be that 
iniquitious and oppressive power symbolized by 
Horns, Beasts, and Monsters, in the prophetic and 
apostolic writings. — For the following account of 
the 'lying wonders' among Catholics, lam indebted 
for the most part, to the work of J. Blanco White, 
published at Cambridge, in 1835. Mr. White is a 
Spaniard, and though now, if living, is a clergyman 
of the church of England, he was, while a Catholic, 
M. A. and B. D. in the University of Seville in 
Spain; licentiate of divinity in the University of 
Osuna; and chaplain to the king of Spain in the 
royal chapel at Seville. His testimony may there- 
fore be depended upon, as that of one who knows, 
and whose learning and opportunities are by no 
means inconsiderable. He says — 

'^A Christian church cannot employ a more^elFec- 



^ ON ANTI-CHRIST, 278 

hm\ instrument to fashion and mould the minds of her 
members than the form of prayer and worship 
which she sanctions for daily use. Such is the 
Breviary or prayer-book of the Roman Catholic cler- 
gy, which, as it stands in the present day, is the 
most authentic work of the kind. In consequence 
of a decree of the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V. 
ordered a number of learned and able men to com- 
pile the Breviary^ and by his bull Quod a iiobis^ Ju- 
Jy, 1565, sanctioned it, and commanded the use 
thereof to the clergy of the Roman CathoPc church-, 
all over the world* Clement VIII. in i6!)2, find- 
ing that the Breviary of Pius V« had been altered 
and depraved, restored it to its prestine state, and 
ordered, under pain of ex-communication, that all 
future editions should strictly follow that wl ich he 
then printed at the Vatican. Lastly, Urban VIIL 
in 1631, had the language of the whole work, and 
the metres of hymns revised. The value which the 
church of Rome sets upon the breviary may be 
known fromthe strictness with which she cem.mds the 
perusal of it. — Who ever enjoys any ecclesiastical 
revenue;all persons of both sexes who haveprofessed 
in any of the regular ordes; all sub-deacons, dea- 
cons, and priests, are bound to repeat either in pub- 
lic or in private, the whole service of the day out of 
the Breviary. The omission of any one of the 
. eight portions of which that service consists, is de* 
clared to be a mortal sin, that is, a sin that, unre- 
pented of, would be sufficient to exclude from sal- 
vation. The person guilty of such an omission loses 
all legal right to whatever portion of his clerical 
18 



274 THE NEW LIGHT. * 

emoluments is due for the day or days wherein he 
neglected that duty, and cannot be absolved till he 
has given the forfeited sums to the poor, or, in Spain, 
redeemed the greatest part of a certain donation to 
the Crusade. Such are the sanctions and penalties 
by which the reading of the breviary is enforced. 
The scrupulous exactness with which this duty is 
performed by all who have not secretly cast off their 
spiritual allegiance is quite surprising. For more 
than twelve years of my life, a period v^hen my uni- 
versity studies required uninterrupted attention, I 
believed myself bound to repeat the appointed pray- 
ers and lessons; a task, which in spite of a rapid 
enunciation, took up an hour and a half daily. A 
dispensation of this duty is not to be obtained from 
Rome without the utmost difficulty. I never, ind^-ed, 
knew or heard of any one who had obtained it. 

'^The Breviary, therefore, must be reckoned the 
true standard to which the church of Rome wishes 
to reduce the minds and hearts of her clergy, from 
the highest dignitary to the most obscure priest. 
It is in the Breviary that we may be sure to find the 
full extent of the pious belief to which she trains the 
pastors of her flock; and the true stamp of those 
virtues which she boasts of in her models of chris- 
tian perfection. By making the daily repetition of 
the Breviary a paramount duty of the clergy, Rome 
evidently gives it the preference over all other 
works; and as far as she is concerned, provided the 
appointed teachers of her laity read her own book, 
they may trouble themselves very little about others. 
Nay, should a Roman Catholic clergyman, as is of- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST, 275 

ten the case, be unable to devote more than an hour 
and a half a day to reading; his church places him 
under the necessity of deriving his whole knowl- 
edge from the Breviary! 

'^Precious, indeed,'^ continues Mr. White, *'must 
be the contents of that privileged volume, if we 
trust the authority which so decidedly enforces its 
perusal. There was a time when I knew it by 
heart; but long neglect of that store of knowledge 
has lately left me but faint traces of the most ex- 
quisite passages contained therein. The present oc- 
casion, however, has forced me to take my old task- 
book in hand; and it shall now be my endeaver to 
arrange and condense the copious extracts made in 
my last revision. The great and never ending vari- 
ety consists in the compendious lives of the saints, 
of which I will here give some specimens. 

"In the first place I shall speak of the early mar- 
tyrs, the spurious records of whose sufferings have 
been made to contribute most copiously to the com- 
position of the Breviary. The variety and ingenu- 
ity of the tortures described, are only equalled by 
the innumerable miracles which baiBed the tyrants 
whenever they attempted to injure the christians by 
any method but cutting their throats! Houses were 
set on fire to burn the martyrs within; but the brev- 
iary informs us that the flames raged for a whole 
day and night without molesting them. Often do 
we hear of idols tumbling from their pedestals at 
the approach of the persecuted christians; and evea 
the judges themselves dropped dead when they at- 
tempted to pass sentence! 



276 THE NEW LIGHT. 

"The wild beasts seldom devour a martyr without 
prostrating themselves before him; and lions follow 
young virgins to protect them from insult. The 
sea refuses to drown those who are committed to its 
waters; and when compelled to do that odious ser- 
vice, the waves generally convey the dead bodies 
where the christians may preserve them as relics! 
On one occasion, a pope is thrown into the lake 
Mceotis, with an anchor which the cautious infidels 
had tied round his neck for fear of the usual mirac- 
ulous floating: the plan succeeded, and the pope was 
drowned. But the sea was observed soon after to 
recede three miles from the shore^ where a temple ap- 
peared, in which the body of the martyr had been 
provided with a marble sarcophagus. 

There is a good deal of romantic interest in the 
history of Cyprian and Justina. The former being 
a heathen magician who to that detestable art join- 
ed a still more infamous occupation, engaged to put 
ayoung man in possession of Justina, a Christian 
virgin. For this purpose he employed the most po- 
tent incantations, till the devil was forced to confess 
that he had no power over christians. Upon this, 
Cyprian very sensibly concluded that it was bet- 
ter to be a christian than a sorcerer. The read- 
ers of romance may, after this, expect every sort of 
incident except a marriage, which none but inferior 
saints ever contract; and from which all must extri- 
cate themselves before they can be in a fair way of 
obtaining a place in the calendar. Cyprian and 
justina being accused before the Roman judge, are, 
however, fried together 'in a caldron of melted 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 277 

"pitch, fat, and wax," from wliich they come out 
quite able to be carried to Nicomedia, where they 
are put to death by the almost infallible means of 
the sword or the axe. I say almost-^ because I find 
an instance where even this method had nearly dis- 
appointed the persecutors. That happend in the 
case of St. Cecilia. This saint, of musiccil celebri- 
ty, having been forced to marry a certain Valerius, 
cautioned most earnestly her bridegroom to avert 
from himself the vengeance of an angel who had 
the charge of her purity. The good natured Vale- 
rius agreed to forego his rights and promised to be- 
lieve in Christ, provided he saw his hea,venly rivaL 
Cecilia, however, declared that such a sight could 
not be obtained without previous baptism; upon 
which, the curiosity of the bridegroom supplying 
the place of faith, he declared his readiness to be 
baptized. After the ceremony, the angel showed 
himself to Valerius and subsequently to a brother of 
his, who had been let into the secret. This Cecilia 
is the martyr on whom, as I mentioned before, a 
whole house flaming about her for a natural day 
had not the smallest effect! Even when the axe 
was employed, the lictor exerted his strength in vain 
on the delicate neck of his victim, which being but 
half divided, yet allowed her miraculously to live 
for three days more, at the end of which she fairly 
died! 

"After the romantic miracles of the early martyrs, 
I have to mention the stories by which the Breviary- 
endeavors to support the extravagant veneration for 
the popes and their see, which at all times, has been 



278 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the leading aim of the Roman court. The most 
notorious forgeries are^ for this purpose^ sanctioned 
and consecrated in her prayer-book. That these 
legends are often given in the words of those whom 
the church of Rome calls fathers shows the weak- 
ness both of the popish structure and of the props 
that support it. We thus find the fable about the 
contest between St. Peter and Simon Magus, before 
Nero, gravely repeated in the words of St. Maxi- 
mus. — 'The holy apostles, Peter and Paul, lost their 
lives,' he says, 'because, among other miracles, they 
also, by their prayer precipitated Simon from the va- 
cuity of the air. For Simon calling himself Christ, 
and engaging to ascend to the Father, was suddenly 
raised in flight by means of his magic art. At this 
moment Peter, bending his knees, prayed to the 
Lord, and hie holy prayer defeated the magician's 
lightness; for the prayer reached the Lord sooner 
than the flight of Magus; the right petition outstrip- 
ped the unjust presumption! Peter on earth ob- 
tained what he asked, much before Simon could 
reach the heavens to which he was making his way 1 
Peter, therefore, brought down his rival from the 
air as if he had held him by a rope, and dasliing 
him against a stone, in a precipice, broke his legs: 
doing this in scorn of the fact itself, so that he who 
tut a moment before had attempted to fly, should 
not now be able to walk; and having affected wings, 
should want the use of his heels! 

"The use which the Breviary makes of the forg- 
ed epistles of the early popes, known by the name 
of false decretals, is perfectly obvious to those who 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 279 

are acquainted with both. As those Decretals were 
forged about the eighth century, with a view to 
magnify the power of the Roman See, nothing in 
their contents is more prominent than that object. 
The Breviary, therefore, never omits an opportuni- 
ty of establishing the papal supremacy by tacit ref- 
erence to these spurious documents. Yet as this 
would have but a slight effect upon the mass of the 
faithful, a more picteresque story is related in the 
life of pope St. John. 

"His holiness being on a journey to Corinth, and 
in want of a quiet and comfortable horse, borrowed 
one which the lady of a certain nobleman used to 
ride. The animal carried the pope with the great- 
est gentleness and docility; and, when the journey 
was over, was returned to his mistress; but in vain 
did she attempt to enjoy the accustomed services of 
her favorite. The horse had become fierce, and 
gave the lady many an unseemly fall; ^as if, (says the 
authorized record,) ^feeling indignant at having to 
carry a zcoma^, since the Vicar of Christ had been 
on his back!' The horse was accordingly presen- 
ted to the pope, as unfit to be ridden by a less digni- 
fied personage." 

After the specimen of Catholic miracles now giv- 
en, to which might be added hundreds more, let the 
reader ask himself if we have or have not fitly rep- 
resented Catholicism by the passages at the head of 
this article, a Lying wonders, miracles of false- 
hood, deceivableness of unrighteousness, destruc- 
tion, persecution, and perdition, have always follow- 
ed in her train, and will ever follow, in every coun- 

a % Thess. ii. 



280 THE NEW LIGHT. 

try where the gloomy and intolerant system pre- 
Tails. Does the reader sa^ that our population is 
too intelligent to he deceived hy such fables? Facts 
have shown that thousands of the American family 
are as gullible as other people: and while Mormon- 
ism is thriving in our soil, and planting itself for the 
purposes of secular empire and consequent blood- 
shed, the horns of this very Catholicism are growing 
up in our midst, and its draconic voice is preparing 
to be heard and obeyed. We call, then, upon 
Americans, to be jealous of the movements of this 
ever insidious power. Trust not too much to a sup- 
posed intelligence of the people; but labor that the 
people may be intelligent; for once give Catholicism 
the political ascendancy in these States, (and this 
she is evidently seeking,) then all our dearest rights, 
the liberty of speech and of the press, are gone for- 
ever, and the chains of a dark and bloody despotism 
will clank upon the hands of our posterity.^ 



CHAPTER XXe 

VI. Superstitions of the Roman Antichrist*, 

Popish Miracles continued — Miracle of St. Peter's Chains when 
brought together — The House of Loretto carried through the 
Air from Palestine to Italy, and set down unhurt — Bodies oi' 
saints will not putrify. — Paul the Hermit and Anthony— St« 
Benedict — St. Scholastica brings upa shower — These miracles 
confirmed by the Pen of Pope" Gregory the Great. 

In speaking of Antichrist Paul has well styled 
Mm " that man of sin, the son of perdition, whosi^. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 281 

coming is after the working of Satan, with all pow- 
er, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all de- 
ceivableness of unrighteousness." And John the 
apostle, when he would sketch the features of this 
mammoth wickedness, sajs, "And he doth great 
wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from 
heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and de- 
ceiveth them that dwell on the earth by those mira- 
cles which he had power to do in the sight of the 
Beast." Every boasted miracle of Romanism, which 
to this day is unblushingly asserted by her priests 
and bishops, confirms this portrait and attests the 
inspiration of the apostles. 

To paint in characters true as life; to record ev- 
ery chapter of falsehood; to describe every lying 
wonder of the church of Rome; would require more 
time and labor than we can devote to the subject, 
or than it requires or deserves. That that church 
has left "the word of God and is turned aside to fa- 
bles," the following facts of the Breviary, as quoted 
by Mr. J. B. White, will show. Mr. White con- 
tinues: — 

"The standing miracles of the city of Rome — 
those miraculous relies which even at this moment 
are drawing crowds of pilgrims within its walls,"^ 
and which, in former times, made the whole of Eu- 
rope support the idleness of the Romans at the ex- 
pense of their devout curiosity — are not overlooked 
in the prayer-book of her church. — Let me mention 

* He refers to the Catholic Jubilee, 1825. The pope had pro- 
claimed Jubilee for that year, and as an inducement for people 
to come to Rome on the occasion, he modestly hinted at the splea- 
414 relics tiiat would be exhibited at that time. 



282 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the account it gives of St. Peter's chains, such as 
they are now venerated at Rome. Eudoxia the 
wife of Theodosius the younger, being on a pilgrim- 
age to Jerusalem, received as a present one of the 
chains with which St. Peter was bound in prison, 
when he was Hberated by an angel. This chain, 
set with jewels, was forwarded by the pious empress 
to her daughter then at Rome. The young prin- 
cess, rejoiced with the gift, showed the chain to the 
pope, who repaid the compliment by exhibiting an- 
other chain which the holy apostle had borne under 
Nero. As, to compare their structure, the two 
chains were brought into contact, the links at the 
extremities of each joined together, and the two 
pieces became one uniform chain. '^ [Now, that two 
chains of their own accord, would, out of sympathy 
from having each touched the body of Peter at dif- 
ferent times, upon coming near each other, kick up 
so strange a frolic and unite at both ends without 
the aid of a blacksmith, is a fact easily believed by 
devout Catholics, and even the pope, so late as 1824, 
invited his faithful children to come up to Rome and 
seethe chain!] 

'^After these samples no one will be surprised to 
find in the same authorized record, all the other sup- 
posed miracles, which, in different parts of Italy, 
move daily the enlightened traveller to laughter or 
disgust. The translation of the House of Loretto 
from Palestine to the papal states, is asserted in the 
collect for that festival; which being a direct address 
to the Deity, cannot be supposed to have been care- 
lessly compiled. The two removals of that house 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 2S3 

by the hands of angels, first to the coast of Dalma- 
tia,and thence over the Adriatic Sea to the oppo- 
site shore, are gravely related in the Lessons; where 
the members of the Roman Catholic church are re- 
minded that the identity of the House is warranted 
by papal bulls, and a proper mass and service pub- 
lished by the same authority for the annual com- 
memoration of that event," [When the credulous 
dupe of superstition and priestcraft reflects upon a 
whole House, lifted up into the air, inmates and all^ 
perhaps, in the land of Palestine, and carried by 
the hands of strong angels across the Adriatic and 
put carefully down; what emotions of wonder and 
awe must rise in his mind! And when by the au- 
thority of his spiritual father the miracle is confirm- 
ed, how is it possible everto biing him to sober re- 
flections? He that can believe the house story, 
could easily believe that St. Dionysius walked with 
his own head in his hands from Paris to the site of 
the Abby of St. Denis, another Catholic miracle! 
He can believe the miracle of St. January, who, 
having been thrown into a burning furnace, came 
out, not only unhurt, but without his hair or gar- 
ment singed ! — The day afterwards, it is said, all the 
wild beasts in the amphithentre came and crouched 
at his feet. And after he w<is dead, his body on 
one occasion, is said to have extiiiguished the flames 
of the volcano Vesuvius!] 

Mr. White continues — ''The world is full of Ro- 
man Catholic miracles, in the incorrupt bodies of 
saints, which lie on the altars, enclosed in gold and 
silver cases. I have often performed high mass be- 



284 THE NEW LIGHT. 

fare that of St. Ferdinand, which is preserved in the 
royal chapel at Seville; and, though a member of 
the chapter to whose charge the Spanish kings have 
intrusted their holy ancestor, I could never obtain 
a distinct view of the body which the church of 
Rome declares to be incorrupt. On certain days 
the front of a massive silver sarchdphagusis remov- 
ed, when a gold and glass chest is seen, containing 
something like a man covered with splendid robes. 
But the multitude of candles on the altar, and the 
want of light from behind, prevent a distinct view of 
the objects within. Once, when the multitude was 
thronging the chapel, a lady of high rank who had 
applied to me for a closer view than was allowed to 
the crowd, was furnished with a stool to stand upon 
a level with the body, to gratify at once her and 
my curiosity, I took a candle from the altar and en- 
deavored to counteract the reflection of the glass 
by throwing in the light obliquely. One of the in- 
ferior clergy, the sacristan, whose duty it was to 
stand in his surplice near the saint, seeing what I 
was about, snatched the candle from my hand with 
a rudeness which nothing but his half roguish and 
half holy zeal could have prompted. He preten- 
ded to be alarmed for the pane of glass; but I more 
than suspect he knew the incorruptibility of the 
saint could not bear inspection. The head, which 
I distinctly saw, was a mere skull, with something 
like painted parchment holding up the lower jaw! 
A similar covering seems to have been laid on the 
right foot which projects out of the royal robes» 
'^Historical miracles are safe from this trouble- 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 285 

some curiosity. Let us take a few specimens from 
those of the early ages of monachism. Among 
these hardly any narrative will be found more cu- 
rious than that which the Breviary copies from 
Saint Jerome, as a record of the life of Paul the 
first Hermit, Paul, we are told, retired to a cave in 
the desert parts of Thebais, where he lived from 
early youth to the age of one hundred and ten. — 
Being near his death, Anthony, another Egyptian 
anchorite, paid him a visit by a supernatural com- 
mand from heaven. Their names being, in the 
same manner revealed to each other, they met for the 
first time with the familiarity of old acquaintances. 
While they were talking about spiritual matters, a 
raven dropped a loaf of bread at the feet of Paul! 
^ Thanks be to heaven," exclaimed the father of 
hermits: "it is now sixty years that I received a 
half loaf daily, in this manner: to-day my allowance 
has been doubled!" On the morrow Paul requested 
his friend Anthony to return for a cloak, which, 
having belonged to St. Anthanasius, he wished to 
have for a winding-sheet. Anihony was coming 
back with the cloak, when he saw the soul of Paul 
going up into heaven, surrounded by the holy com- 
pany of the prophets and apostles. In the cave he 
found the corpse with crossed legs, erected head, 
and the arms raised above it. He was, however, at 
a loss how to dig a grave? being also an old man of 
ninety, and having no spade or instrument of that 
kind. In this distress he saw two lions hurrying to- 
wards him from the interior of the desert. The li- 
ons, in the best manner they could, gave him to un- 



286 THE NEW LIGHT. 

derstand that they meant him no harm, but on the 
contrary, were much affected by the death of Paul. 
They then set to work with their claws, and having 
made a hole of sufficient size to contain the dead 
body, quietly and decently retired to their fastness- 
es. Anthony took possession of PauTs coat, which 
was made of palm-leaves like a basket, and wore it 
regularly as a holyday dress on Easter and Whitsun- 
day! 

" The life of St. Benedict the great propagator of 
monachisra in the sixth century, has furnished the 
Breviary with several curious miracles. One of the 
first among the wonders he wrought does not give a 
favorable idea of the character of religious society 
at that period. St. Benedict having undertaken 
the government of a certain monastery where he 
wished to introduce a more severe discipline than the 
inmates were disposed to follow, had a poisoned cup 
presented by the monks. He would have fallen a 
victim to their wickedness but for the habit of ma- 
king the sign of the cross over every thing he eat or 
drank. The sign was no sooner made than the cup 
burst into pieces and spilt the deadly contents on the 
table! 

"St. Benedict is inseparably coupled in my rec- 
ollection with his sister St. Scholastica, who had the 
gift of working a peculiar kind of light playful mir- 
acles. By one of these, the holy nun Scholastica, 
who paid a yearly visit to her brother in an out- 
house of the monastery, wishing to keep him a whole 
night in conversation, and not being able to per- 
suade him, forced him to break the rule which 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 287 

bound him to sleep in his cell. The manner of car- 
rying her point was simple enough. On hearing a 
positive refusal, she crossed her hands, laid them 
upon the table, then reclined her head upon them 
and wept profusely. Her tears disturbed the state 
of the atmosphere which at that moment was beau- 
tiful, and a violent storm of thunder and rain instant- 
ly ensued! In a few minutes the rivers overflowed 
their banks and the whole country around was like 
a sea! Benedict, who was familiar with miracles^ 
could not mistake the cause of the storm, and good- 
naturedly reproached his sister. *What could I do?' 
said she, with a saintly archness, of which none but 
readers of the Breviary could ever suspect the ex- 
istence: '1 entreated you, and was refused; I there- 
fore asked my God and he heard me. Now, brother^ 
go if you can: leave me and run away to your mon- 
astery!' — This playfulness is the more surprising as 
the good lady Scholastica had then a certainty of 
her approaching death. Benedict saw her soul in 
the shape of a dove, wing up her way to heaven 
only three days after this miracle. The instructive 
Lessons in which this is related come from no vulgar 
pen. They are portions of the Dialogues of Pope 
Gregory the Grea/." 

From the most indubitable sources, therefore, from 
popes themselves and the books that bear their au- 
thority, we are pointed to the power of falsehood as 
incarnate in Catholicism. We would not abridge 
one privilege of a Catholic citizen, nor add a pain 
to his body or mind: but we have a right to raise up 
a w arning voice against a scheme of oppression. 



388 THE NEW LIGHT* 

ignorance, superstition and vice, which, wherever it 
has come and risen to power, has spread degreda- 
tion, slavery, and blood, upon the victims of its rage; 
and ignorance, intolerance, and superstition, over 
the minds of its devotees* 



CHAPTER XXL 
YII. Superstitions OF the Roman Antichrist. 

Reflections growing out of the Subject — False Miracles rejourned 
— Ornamental Miracles — Phosph(n"ic Saints — Thaumaturgus' 
staff grows into a Tree — St. Stanislaus and his Miracles — 
Conclusion — Miracle of the Bees— Of the Dog — Feast of the 
Ass in the Tenth Century* — Conclusion. 

The church of Jesus Christ as it existed in the 
beginning, by the doctrine it enforced and the ten- 
derness and humanity it every v^here inculcated, was 
designed both to enlarge and strengthen the mental 
faculties, and to happify the bodies and ameliorate 
the secular conditions of men. But that this system 
of wisdom, mercy, peace, and humanity, should lose 
every attribute of divinity but the name — that its 
heart of gentleness should at length beat a tally to 
every thought of wickedness in the head of him who 
sits in the chair of St. Peter — that its soft arms of 
mercy stretched out over and embracing the nations 
of the earth, should transform themselves into en- 
gines of torture, or give place to bars of red-hot 



ON ANTI-CHRrST. 269 

iron to compress and destroy the helpless victims of 
its power — (hnt what at first was so nicely fitted to 
the condition of man as a mental, moral, and cor- 
poreal being, as to instruct, axalt, and happify him^ 
should in (he end, by a stealthy and almost imper- 
ceptible change, become the worst fitted of all sys- 
tems to mature and exalt his powers, but does, on 
the contrary debase them— that, in time, vice should 
steal the name of virtue, unbelief the name of 
faith, superstilion that of piety and true devotion, 
folly the name of wisdom, and antichrist the name 
and prerogatives of Christ himself and even of God 
Almighty: — is not only a moral phenomenon, won- 
derful beyond any thing that the world has ever 
known of the same species; but is, indeed, a sui ge- 
neris creation, the true portraiture of which we have 
in the following words: "I saw a woman sit upon a 
scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy 
having seven heads and ten horns. And the wo- 
man was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and 
decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, 
having a golden cup in her hand full of abomina- 
tions and filthincss of her fornications: and upon 
her head was a name written, mystery, babylon 

FHE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINA- 
TIONS OF THE EARTH. And 1 saw the woman drunk- 
en with the blood of the saints, and with the blood 
of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I 
wondered with great admiration." a 

l>ul we coaie ngain to the subject of Catholic mir- 
acles, those 'Hying wonders" which the ecclesias- 
tics of that church have power even yet to do in the 
i J a Rev. xvii. 3 — 6. 



290 THE NEW LIGHT. 

sight of the Beast, and which, even yet, they can* 
cause the ignorant to believe. Again we will hear 
Mr. White. "There is scarcely a saint,'' continues- 
he, "who has not been honored by miracles which 
I would call ornameniaL Celestial meteors have 
generally shone over the houses where a future saint 
was to be born, and the b( lis have rung of their owH' 
accord on^ the infantas coming to light: swarms of bees 
settled on their mouih.^, and even built a honey-comb 
in their hands, while lying in the cradle! [The 
bells rang, it is said of their own own accord, at the 
nativity of St. John a Deo, St. Peter Celestinus, as 
also at the birth of sundry other saints of similar 
renown; and bees, with most miraculous industry, 
built cells in the hands of St. Ambrose, St. Peter 
Nolascus, Str Isodore and many others, while in- 
fants! And those fictitious tales are gravely told' 
and as gravely believed among the Catholics — the 
very people who at the present hour are compassing 
sea and land to make proselytes to their hoary head- 
ed and intolerant superstition.]^ — "A baby saint had 
her face changed into a rose that she might be call- 
ed after that flower," [if we may believe the follow- 
ing declaration: 

"Vultus infantus, mirabiliter in rosse transfiguratus, 
huic Domini occasionemdedit.^J 

"An angel, in a bishop's robes appeared upon the 
baptismal font where a future prelate was to be bap- 
tised, as in the case of Cuenca. The mothers of 
these extraordinary beings seldom were without 
prophetic dreams during the time of gestation. 
Some saints performed miracles even before they 



o?r ANTr-CHKisT. 291 

were born; and it is asserted by saint Bridget that 
— ("cum adhuc in utero g:staretur, e naufragio,. 
propter earn, mater erepla est") — she saved her 
mother from shipwreck! — These holj children have 
not unfreqiiently spoken when scarcely five months 
old; though the object of their speeches was seldom 
so important as that of St. Philip Beniti, when, at 
that age, he chid his mother for sending some beg- 
ging monks from her doors." [Whether the baby 
saint uttered this reproof in Latin, or not, we are 
not informed: certain it is, that the Catholic prayer- 
book records the matter in that language, as the 
reader may see if he will.] ''Nor was this wonder 
exhibited only in the embryo-saint: common every 
day babes have often spoken to discover the hiding, 
places of that nearly extinct generation of men, 
whom an impending mitre drove with affright into 
the fastnesses of deserts. St. Andrew Avcllini, for 
instance, could not have been consecrated bishop of 
Fiesolc unles he had been actually betrayed by the 
voice of an infant — ^'piieri voce mirabililer loquantis 
prodihis.^' 

"The apostles who had received the power of 
working miracles from Christ himself, for the great 
object of establishing his religion, appear to have 
been greatly limited in the use of their supernatu- 
ral gifts, and never to have controlled the order of 
nature except under the influence of that supernat- 
ural impulse, that unhesitating faith, which being ia. 
itself a miracle, was, in the strong figurative lan- 
guage of their Divine Master, said to be able to 
move mountains. It is far otherwise with the won*- 



292 THE NEW LIGHT* 

der-workcrs of the Breviary. While these modero 
saints lived on earth, nature suffered a daily inter- 
ruption of her laws, and that often for their own 
personal convenience. With the exception of Sl» 
FauFs preservation from the bile of the viper, we 
do aot find miraculous interpositions in his favor. 
Indeed, the account he gives of the hardships, dan- 
gers, and narrow escapes duiing his ministry, shows 
that miracles were not wrought for his comfort. 
Modern saints aie more fortunate. Frances, a Ro- 
man widow, who enjoyed the fimiliar view and con- 
versation of her guardian angel, once multiplied a 
few crusts of bread so as to atford a substantial meal 
to fifteen nuns, and fill up a basket with the frag- 
ments! On another occasion she allayed their thirst 
with a bunch of miraculous grapes; and more than 
once was preserved by a supernatural influence, fi om 
the inconvenience of getting wet in the rain, or even 
from the stream of a river! St. Andrew Avellini 
retiring home in a storm, was equally preserved 
from the effects of rain. The benefit of this mira. 
cle w^as not only extended to his companions, but 
the whole company had the advantage of seeing 
their way in a pitch-dark night by the radiancy of 
the saint's person! 

"These phosphoric appearances, as well as a su- 
pernatural tendency to fly i^pwards, are so common 
among saints of the last four or five centuries, that 
it would be tedious to mention individual instances. 
St. Peter of Alcantara, a saint very remarkable for 
antigravitating qualities, exhibited a very curiou.? 
phenomenon in another storm. A tremendous fiUl 



ON ANTI-CHRIST* 



293 



of snow came on as he was returning at night to the 
convent. Distressed for shelter, he entered a build- 
ing most unfit for the occasion, as it vvanted a roof 
to stop the snow. But the walls which still remain- 
ed saved half the trouble to the miraculous agent 
employed on the occasion. The snow congealed 
into a solid roof and completed the building, in 
which Peter passed the night. The cooling prop- 
erties of this structure must have been highly wel- 
come to a man whose charity^ (I relate what I find in 
the Breviary.) so used to raise the temperature of 
his blood, Ihat it obliged him to break out from his 
cell and run distracted in to the field! 

*'The repetition of miracles is a matter of some 
curiosity, as it might be expected that powers which 
baffle the laws of nature would display an inex- 
haustable variety. Yet we find the earliest mira- 
cles repeated, and many occur regularly in the life 
of every saint. Of the latter kind are the lumin- 
ous appearance of their faces; the multiplication or 
creation of food; living without sustenance; con- 
versing with angels; emitting sweet effluvia from 
their bodies. More peculiar displays of supernatu- 
ral interference appears, sometimes, at distant peri- 
ods. St. Gregory, the wonder-worker of the fourth 
century, fixed his staff in the ground, and it instant- 
ly grew up into a tree which stopped the floods of 
the river Lycus! The lately mentioned Peter of 
Alcantara made also his staff* grow into a fig-tree 
which the friars of his order have propagated by 
cuts in every part of Spain. This happened only 
in the sixteenth century. A raven provided Paul 



294 THE NEW lilGaT. 

the hermit witti bread; a wild doe presented herself 
daily to be milked by St. ^gidius! St Eustachias, 
.a martyr, said to have been a general under Trajan, 
•was converted by seeing, in the chase, a stag bear- 
ing a crucifix between the antlers! St. John of 
Matha founded the order of the Trinity in conse- 
quence of seeing a similar animal with 3^ tricolor 
cross in the same positioni 

" There are also certain miraculous feats for which 
saints have shown a peculiar fondness. Three nav- 
igations on a mantle are recorded in the Breviary. 
St. Francis de Paula crossed the strait of Sicily on 
his own cloak, taking another monk as a passenger! 
St. Raymond de Pennafort sailed in the same man- 
ner from Majorca to Barcelona! St. Hyacinth, a 
Pole, deserves no less credit for the management of 
his cloth vessel across the flooded Vistula, notwith- 
standing the weight of his companions! 

"The mention of a Polish saint reminds me, how- 
ever, of a miracle performed by St. Stanislaus bish- 
op of Cracow, which is not likely to have been of- 
ten repeated. — Stanislaus was on the point of being 
-deprived of some lands which he had purchased for 
his church. He could not show the title deeds: and 
the person to whom they formerly belonged had 
been dead three years. The king being a decided 
enemy of the bishop, no witness would come for- 
ward in his favor. The diet of Poland was on the 
point of punishing Stanislaus for his supposed fraud, 
when, to the no small amusement of the noblemen 
present, he engaged, within three days, to present 
the late possessor of the estate. On the third day 



ON ANTI-CHRIST* 295 

the saint called the dead man out of the grave. Pe- 
ter (that was his name,) rose without delay, and fol- 
lowed the bishop to the diet, where having duly 
given his deposition in support of the bishop's right 
he died a second lime! The king was, however, too 
hardened to profit by this great miracle; and being 
enraged at the sentence of excommunication which 
the bishop soon after fulminated against him, killed 
him with his own hand, and ordered his body to be 
quartered and scattered about the fields. The wild 
beasts would have made a repast on the holy relics 
but for the watchfulness of some eafjles which nev- 
er allowed any one to touch them, till the canons of 
Cracow, led by alight from heaven, collected the 
scattered limbs the ensuing night. The different 
parts of the body, when properly adjusted together, 
united as closely as kindred drops, and not a mark 
was left of the effects of the knife!" 

Let no one suppose that Catholicism has reformed 
its faith or thrown off its superstitions, though in 
these States it is compelled to put on a fairer exteri- 
or. Trust it nof^ for though it have horns like a 
Lamb, it etill speaks as a Dragon, and will be found 
ready again to become drunken with the blood of 
saints and martyrs when it shall find occasion. Let 
us of the great Valley, more especially, be on the 
alert; for it is here that the pope of Rome hopes to 
•regain his fortunes and build up his empire. 

We have in another place paid some attention to 
the gross fable of transubstantiation: we again al- 
lude to it here for the purpose of recording some 
CliracJes which Catholics believe to have beea 



296 THE NEW LIGHT* 

wrought by the wafer- god. — It is related by Peter 
Cluniac who seems to have been a Catholic writer^ 
thai a peasant of Auvergne in France, perceiving 
that his bees were in danger of destruction, to pre- 
vent so great a misfortune, was advised, after he had 
received the communion, to keep the host (for so 
they call the bread after it is consecrated by the 
priest, from the Latin hostia which signifies an ani- 
mal for sacrifice,) and to blow it into one of the 
hives. All this he did, when behold, the bees came 
forth out of their hives, and ranging themselves in 
order, lifted the host from the ground and carrying it 
in upon their wings placed it among their combs. 
The peasant then went his way; but upon his re- 
turn he found that all his bees were dead! But 
what was his surprise we leave the reader to judge, 
when he lifted up the hive he saw that the wafer or 
bread was turned into a fair child among the hon- 
ey combs! He supposed the infant to be dead, and^ 
going about to bury it, it vanished from his hands. 
The consequence was, that the county of Clermont 
where this thing happened, was visited by plagues 
and distempers litl nearly the whole region was de- 
populated t This foolish tale is gravely told and aa 
gravely believed by a credulous and priest-ridden 
populace. 

We have another bee story in the works of one 
Caesarius lo (his etTcct. A certain lady, it seems, 
having received the Aw5/ or sacrament in an unworthy 
manner, carried the host to her liives in order to ea- 
rich the stock of bees, and so left them to work the 
materials as might seem good to their ingenious judg- 
ment, for the bec^ are a little folk amazingly smari 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 29t 

when they lake a notion. Well, the ladj returned 
in due time to the hives, and perceived that the bee?, 
acknowledging THEIR god in the host, had, with 
admirable and most wonderful skill and artifice, 
erected a chapd or chathedral of wax, with doors, 
windows, bells and vestry! and within it a chalice or 
cup where they laid the holy body of Jesus Christ! 
The news of this relgion of the bees was spread out 
into ail the country, and the priest himself came in 
all holy haste to the hives and heard miraculous mu- 
sic made by the bees as they plied their little wings 
in dodging around the host! A curious miracle this, 
and very worthy of the doctrine it is designed to 
support. 

Not less remarkable is the ass story told by Orlan- 
di in his very grave history. The atFair happened 
in the Venetian territories in the sixteenth century, 
if we may believe in Orlandi. \ priest, he tells us, 
carrying the host or consecrated z/j^/er, privately to a 
sick person, met, out of town, some asses which were 
working their way to a pasture not far off, as those 
gregarious and graminivorous animals might be ex- 
pected to do. All at once the asses, more senti- 
mental than even the priest, perceived what it was 
that he was carrying, and dividing themselves into 
two ranks on each side of the way, /e// on their 
knees in silent adoration — for it is not said, so far as 
Iknovv, that any jack among them attempted to 
bray out the warnith and fervor of his devotions. 
The priest then passed along between the ranks of 
asses till he had reached the ends of the prostrate 
phalanx, when the beasts rose up in a very orderlj 



298 THE NEW LIGHT. 

mcinner^ adoring^ as in pomp^ their Crmfor; followed 
the priest to the sick man's house; waited at the 
door till the priest came out; and did not leave him 
till he had pronounced a benediction upon them! 
This piece of remarkable history has been carefully 
examined by Catholic annalists, and found to be 
true every whit! — truCj yes, as true as transubstan- 
tiation. 

We find a dog story and miracle in the works of 
Nicholas de Lnghi, which for substance is this. 
There was a fellow, a Jew, (they are an unbelieving 
race those Jews, to say the best of them.) who took 
upon him to blaspheme the holy sacrament by say- 
ing that if the christians would give it to his dog, the 
dog would eat it up and show no regard to 
theirGod. The Catholics were greatly grieved at 
this speech and conceived the design of putting the 
dog to the proof. Immediately therefore spreading 
a napkin upon the table, they laid on many hosts or 
wafers, only one of which was consecrated. The 
dog w^as now put upon the (able^ and, as a hungry 
dog would do, he went on from host to host cranch- 
ing and swallowing with great avidity and precis- 
sion, for a dog is an animal of yery intellectual 
nose when he is hungry. But no sooner had the 
unclean animal put the point of his nose near the 
consecrated host, than he was smitten with I know 
not w^hat sentiment, for he fell instantly ^ipon his 
knees as in solemn adoration! How long the dog 
continued in worship of the breaden God, is not 
said; or whether he did or did not eat the consecra- 
ted host, we cannot say: one thing is certain, if the 



ON ANTI-CHRIST^ 299 

history be true, and that is, that the dog cid not con- 
tinue long in a pious and worshipfal mood; for de 
Laghi tells us, he flew in terrible rage into the face 
of ihe Jew his master and snapped his nose clean 

It would be easy to multiply similar instances of 
popish superstition and folly to any extent; but the 
above must suflice. We ask leave of the reader to 
conclude this part of our work by giving but one 
more, and this shall be not the mule stoiy of St. 
Anthony, nor the Jew story of Friar Leon: it is the 
ass story of the tenth century, taken from Town- 
ley's History of the Bible, page 118. 

"Of the degraded state of religion in the tenth 
century, and of the wretched superstition which 
reigned in that and some of the following ages, no 
stronger proof can be adduced than the institution 
of the feast of ihe Ass^ celebrated in several church- 
es of France, in commemoration of the Virgin Ma- 
ry's flight into Egypt." The manner and style was 
this. "A young girl richly dressed, w^th a child in 
her arms, was placed on an ass superbly caparison- 
ed. The ass was led to the altar in solemn proces- 
sion. High mass was said with great pomp. The 
ass was taught to kneel at proper places; and a 
ludicrous composition, half Latin, half French, was 
sung with great vociferation," a few extracts from 
which may be pardonable: 

^'From the country of the East, 
Came this strong and handsome beast: 
This able ass beyond compare, 
Heavy loads and packs to bear. &c. 



300 THE NEW LIGHT. 

See that broad majestic ear! ^ '" ' 

Born he ib the yoke to wear — 
All his fellows he surpasses, 

He's the very lord of assesl , ,., 

***** 

Gold from Araby the blest, 

Seba myrrh of myrrh the best, 

To thechprch the ass did bring; 

We his sturdy labors sing! 

Chorus Now, Seignior Ass, a noble bray, 

That beauteous mouth at large display? 
Abundant food our hay-lofts yield, 
And oats abundant load the field! 

Jimen! bray, most noble Ass, 
Sated now with grain and grass: 
Amen! repeat, Jlmtriy reply 
And disregard antiquity! 
Hez va! hez va! &c. 

"When the ceremony was ended, the priest in- 
stead of the usual words with which he dismissed 
the people, brayed three times like an ass; and the 
people, instead of the usual response, brayed three 
times in return!" And so the ecr^'mony ended, and 
here is an end of our account of Romanists super- 
stitions. 



CHAPTER XXIL 

vn. The Roman Antichrist the Mother o? Sects and 
Heresies— Is CHARGEABLE with the Evils of the pres- 
ent TL\1ES — W>TH COaUNi; INIQUITILS — AND WILL BE DE- 
STROYED SUDDENLY FOR ALL HIS ABOMINABLE IDULATRILS. 

Remarks on Popish Idolatry — A list of Relics — Tlie Holy Coat 
of Treves — Varicus remarks and ArgumeEts — The doom of 
Roiranism — Description of tlie Fall of Babylon, and of the 
End ot the Man of Sin. 

Hitherto I have said nothing of the idolatries of 
the man of Sin, of his Scds and Pardee ^ and of the 
sure destiny that awaits him in the firey times which 
will soon be revealed. I approach these subjects 
now, but the plan of this work will allow onl/ of 
the introduction and combination of some distin- 
guishing facts: for, as we said before, the full histo- 
ry of Romanism would be the full history of sin, and 
would fill many heavy volumes. 

§ I. Of Papal Idolatry. — He who is learned 
in Ecclesiastical History needs not to be told that 
Romanism borrowed many of its rites and ceremo- 
nies from the ancient Heathens whose countries had 
been conquered by Roman arms, and from the bar- 
barous nations which overran and subdued the em- 
pire of the Csesars. This is susceptible of the clear- 
est proof. If, upon the publication of this volume, 
any Catholic priest shall dc ny this, 1 will prove it be- 
yond cavil. 'Ihe idol-worship of heathen temples, 
with a (aw modifications, was transferred to so call- 
ed christian churches, and the images of heroes, 
demigods and goddesses, gave place to those of 
Christ, the saint^^5 and of the virgin Maryj and the 



302 THE NEW LTGET^ 

veneration of the memorj of martjrs became the 
proliSc fountain of the worship and adoration of 
relics. 

Respecting zrfo/Q/rj/, that is, the worship of ima- 
ges, as a part and parcel of the system of Roman- 
ism, her priests maintain that Catholics are not idol- 
ators in this respect. In like manner the heathen 
excused themselves by saying they did not worship 
\\ie image ^h\xt the god represented by it. But this 
is all evasion and sophistry as the history of these 
things shows. 

If there be one vice or sin more clearly forbidden 
than another, in the holy Scriptures, that sin is the 
adoration of or howing down to images or pictures; 
and if in any thing CathoHc^ are dislinguiscd from 
all other worshippers in christian countries, they are 
distinguished by the worship of images^ pictures and 
relics. Lotus hear the Bible:^ — ''Thou shalt not 
make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness 
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in 
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
earth. '^ (Ex. xx. 4,) Such is one of the command- 
ments of the Decalogue; but throughout the histo- 
ry of the Pentateuch, of the Kings and Chronicles, 
of the Prophets, the Psalms, of Christ and his xApos- 
tles, the same or similar injunctions are repeated/^ 
enforced, explained in an infinite variety of forms. 
The "bowing^' with reverence to images is every- 
where forbidden and condemned as idolary. liut 
Catholics make images of sainls and bow down to 
them with awe and reverence. They make images 
of Christy and worship them:— images of wood, or 



or? ANTI-CHRIST. 303 

brass, or ivorj, or silver, or gold! They make im- 
ages of the Virgin Mary, then pray to her to pray 
for them! " Hail, Mary, mother of God, pray for 
us!" Such are their prayers, and such their idola- 
tries. — But let not the reader suppose that a prac- 
tice so gross and every way contrary to Scripture, 
came into the church all at once and without a strug- 
gle against it: it was many loiig years hefore it was 
tolerated. The best men opposed it till opposition 
became vain, when finally it became permanently 
established in the Roman church, and will continue 
till the coming of the Son of Man. But as it would 
fill volumes to give a particular account of Romish 
idolatries, a few allusions only will be necessary in. 
this place. 

We have seen that Catholics are idolaters in the 
adoration of wooden, brazen, waxen, silver, or gol- 
den CVim/5 and saints:, but there is another species 
of idolatry equally and perluips even more revol- 
ting; I mean their worship of the wafer or wafir-gud^ 
The host is held up to the multitude, and thej adore 
it for God Almighty I To the priests, they suppose^. 
(for so they tell us.) is given power to '' to create their 
Creator!'^ The ignorant rabble believe this most 
mischievous nonsense;, but what is most wonderful 
of all, they eat their God and Savior and digest him 
in the same stomach with pork, beef, and potatoes! 
O x\ntichrist, thou art a fool as^ well as a knave! 

But there is still another species of idolatry little 
less impious and absurd, namely, the adoration of 
relics. These have become a fruitful source of rev- 
enue to the clergy. Old skulb, thigh-bones,- ribs^ 



304 THE NEW LIGHT* 

&c. have been searched out from their graves, and, 
declared by the knowing to be the bones of mar- 
tyrs, liave been paraded about and shown as the 
conductors of divine powers to the multitude. Ma- 
ny of these bones were those of very heathen, per- 
haps even of infidels and persecutors; and others 
may have been bones of sheep, hogs, or asses! But 
convenient miracles bad certified them as bones of 
martyrs; the priests made the people believe it; the 
people kissed or purchased them, or carried them 
as amulets against evil spirits or hobgoblins! The 
sight of these wonderful bones was worth a dollar, 
so that the priests fattened upon the credulity and 
blind devotion of the populace. 

To give a full account of all the re/Zr^ adored by 
Romanists, would fill a volume: take the following 
as chief: — 

They show, in vSpain and oilier countries, a small 
quantity of flax which the Virj;in Mary did ?jo/spin; 
but it seems to have been taken from a lot she did 
spin! 

They show a bale of hay which (he three wise 
men of the easl did nul feed to their cattle when 
they came to viMt the infant Messiah, and which they 
left behind when they returned home! 

They show a piece of one of the garments of 
Lazarus, but whetlier it belonged to his tunic or 
pantaloon?, is not staled. There is a piece of linen 
cloth which they say was worn by the virgin Mary. 

They show one of the hairs fium the mustachios 
of St. Jeromt'! An admirable relic, this. 

They show some of the abdominal viscera of 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 305 

Judas Iscariot, which "gushed out" when he hanged 
himself! 

Thej show even the famous scissors with which 
Delilah cut ojQT the hair of Samson! 

They show a piece of the apron which the butch- 
er wore when he killed the fatted calf at the return 
of the prodigal son! 

They have collected and show one of the smoothe 
stones which little David had when he went with his 
sling to encounter Goliath! 

They have, they say, and exhibit, a branch of the 
famous tree on which Absalom hung by the hair 
when he rebelled against his father! 

They would show more relics than they have — ^ 
for some, it seems, are lost, among which was "a 
quill of the angel Gabriel's wing!" He must bave 
been a rare fowl that Gabriel! 

Aaron's rod that budded was too great a prodigy 
to be fruitless of relics; accordingly the Catholics 
show some of its blossoms! 

They exhibit St. Anthony^s millstone, and an arm 
of St. Simeon. 

Besides writing the Acts of Apostles, St. Luke 
was a great portrait painter; and the Romanists 
show the likeness of Mary well-drawn by this evan- 
gehst. 

They show the head of St. Dennis, that most 
wonderful head, which, after it had been cut off, he 
carried two miles under his arm! 

They show a considerable lock of the Virgin's 
hair, a phial of her tears, some of Joseph's breath 
in a phial, and the cradle in which the infant Jesus 
was laid. 

20 



306 THE NEW LIGHT, 

They show the heads of Peter and Paal, some of 
Peter's old fishing net, and a finger and arm of Ann 
the mother of Marj and Grandmother of God Al^ 
mighty! 

They exhibit some of the blood of Christ careful- 
ly preserved in a phial! and some of the water 
from his side! 

They show us some pieces of the cross, with all 
the nails used in the crucifixion; a piece of the 
stone of the sepulchre on which the angel sat; two 
pieces of wood of the real ark of the covenant; <a 
hair of Christ's beard; thirteen thorns of his crown; 
some pieces of the column to which he was bound, 
and the manger in which he was born! 

Besides all the above, they show the habit, or 
pieces of it, which adorned the body of the Virgin 
Mary, with a piece of the handkerchief with which 
she wiped her tears at the foot of the cross! togeth- 
er with a thigh-bone of the martyr St. Lawrence^ 
the lantern of Judas some the worse of wear, Jo- 
seph's axe, saw, and hammer, (for he was a carpen- 
ter,) and a piece of the Virgin's veil as good as new. 

To the above list it may be edifying to add the 
staff which our Lord gave to St. Patrick, by which 
he drove all the toads and snakes out of Ireland; 
for this same staff is exhibited and 'adored' by the 
Catholics of the Emerald Isle. But a relic of which 
the reader may not have heard, the tail uf Balaarn^s 
assj must not be forgotten, as it is rich with emo- 
tions of piety from the hearts of devout Romanists* 
What a splendid sight, to see in a gaudy mass-house 
a devout priest holding up a donkey's tail before 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 307 

thousands upon their knees! I do not know wheth- 
er the people say, "Holy tail, pray for us!" but we 
know that they utter prayers equally foolish and 
revolting. 

We finish this catalogue with the holy coat at 
Treves. Within a year or two past this old dud 
has been exhibited in Germany as the \ery coat of 
our Savior. Thousands on thousands, at great la- 
bor and cost, flocked to see it from vanous Catholic 
countries, and returned greatly edified that they had 
approached and received the blessing of this con- 
temptible rag! Who would have thought that so 
gross an imposture could have been practised in 
the nineteenth century? that a million of rational 
being? could have been induced to believe it? that 
they would pay for the sight more than one hun- 
dred thousand dollars in six weeks? Yet, so it is. 
Is it likely that this giant power of cruelty, of ig- 
norance, of superstition and idolatry, will incline 
itself to a more sober theology in the last days of 
its career? No! Its fate is written; its destruction 
is sure. 

Romanism is the chief mother of Sects and here^ 
sies; for what were all her monkish orders but so 
many sects hostile to each other? And she has been 
more unnatural to her own children than any other 
church. Catholic nations have murdered and butch- 
ered one another out of their lust of gold and do- 
minion. The fiercest disputes between Protestants, 
touching points of doctrine, are peace and harmo- 
ny compared with the contests of Catholics against 
Catholics, popes, kings, emperors, engaged in mor- 



308 THE NEW LIGHT. 

tal combat on the tented field. Besides, Romanism 
is to be blamed for many of the divisions among 
Protestants themselves. The language in her de- 
scription is not too strong, "the mother of harlots 
and of THE abominations of the earth!" But 
shall she stand, and sin, and spiritually fornicate 
forever? Let us open the prophecies. 

§ II. Of the destruction of Antichrist. — On this 
subject, as on all the preceding, we must study 
brevity and precision; for did we venture to say 
all that the Scrij)tures say upon it, this division it- 
self would amount to a volume. A few passages, 
c4ear and explicit, from the prophetic Record, will 
suffice for all the lovers of truth: as for those who 
are incurably under the dominion of prejudice, we 
let them pass as monuments to the truth of the apos- 
tolic prediction, "God shall send them strong delu- 
sions that they should believe a lie because 

they had pleasure in unrighteousness." a We take 
our selections exclusively from the New Testa- 
ment. 

From the prophecies contained in this sacred vol- 
ume it appears, 

1, That one means of the destruction of Ro- 
manism with its kindred superstitions, is the reproc- 
lamation of the apostolic doctrine. This process 
commenced by the Reformers of Germany, Switz- 
erland, &c.; and though it was imperfect in part as 
to means and ends, yet it terminated in greatly 
weakening the Papal power. Reformations of a 
more refined character have succeeded, in which 
greater learning and more moral force have com- 
a^Thess. ii. 11,12. 



ON ANTr-CHRIST. 309 

bined to waste away the opposing power: so that, 
at the present time protestant nations oppose an im- 
passable barrier to the final triumphs of Catholi- 
cism, Millions of men in love with and enjoying 
the sweets of liberty and a rational religion, cannot 
be subjected to the dull and stupid authority of 
popes and cardinals. The "spirit of the Lord's 
mouth,'^ the true gospel, is proclaimed as from the 
housetops, and this will attract the attention of the 
honest, intellectual, and good, and in the ratio of 
its progress weaken the sinews of the man of sin. — 
Bat, 

2, The general diffusion of correct political prin- 
ciples will cut up the power of popery. The Bi- 
ble is restored to mankind in their vernacular, and 
civilization will follow in its train. The discovery 
of the American continent has not only given a new 
world to the nations of the earth, but it has given 
new principles of human government. The pro- 
gress of these principles must be onward. The na- 
tions which border on the United States must re- 
ceive the spirit of our institutions: and even those 
beyond sea have already become impregnated, more 
or less, with the genius of our government. In 
France, England, Germany, &c. the people long to 
breathe our free air, and to get rid of the smother- 
ing incubus of kingcraft and priestcraft; and they 
must be free. Some spark, soon to be kindled, will 
explode the whole European system. This may be 
gathered from the prophecies which relate to the 
downfall of popery and the kindred institutions. 
And then, 



310 THE NEW LIGHT. 

3, War will make bare its terrible arm in the 
destruction of anlichristian power. This it has al- 
ready in part accomplished. The wars of Europe 
for centuries past, have regularlly diminished both 
the credit and power of the pope; so that whole 
nations once chained to his chair, can now laugh at 
the old shrivelled sinner w^ho reigns in the Vatican. 
The American Revolution had its effects, proximate 
and remote, upon the destinies of the old world. 
Civil liberty displayed her motto, and the oppress- 
ed among mankind have found here an assylum 
from the oppression of popes and kings; while our 
principles are on the march into all zones of earth, 
and the shout of enthusiastic freemen is heard where 
the chains of despotism had clanked for ages. But 
the inevitable progress of these principles must stir 
up the spirit of war: for kings will fight for their 
thrones, and popes will sell Christ for their mitres. 
But, remembering past enormities and her present 
aspiring disposition, "the nations will hate the Har- 
lot " of Rome, till this disposition will manifest it- 
self in their burning her flesh as with fire. Her 
sins will come in remembrance before God, and he 
will commit her over to the unsparing vengeance of 
outraged mankind. Perhaps the war now com- 
menced by Mexico upon our Southwestern border 
may prove the stepping-stone to these great events. 
Should the powerful States of Europe become in- 
volved in this contest, (as many of the wise believe 
they will,) the earth will be shaken, by the charge 
of contending armies, and the wars may terminate 
on the fields of Armageddon! Amidst the general 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 311 

concussion, Romanism will make a desperate strug- 
gle for life and dominion; but she will be compelled 
to tolerate the Bible, not only in Mexico, but in the 
world, and men will demand that religion shall be, 
not an engine of state and means of tyranny, but 
the comforter of the poor and needy, the purifier of 
the guilty, the elevator of them that had fallen. By 
the power of the sword, a consummation so devoutly 
to be wished, must come at last: and whether its 
continuance shall be longer short, the consummation 
must come — for mankind, so long outraged by the 
subtle serpent of false religion, will be free. 
Heaven speed the hoar! 

4. But that the man of sin, antichrist, the cruel, 
superstitious, idolatrous power, whose description we 
have given in the preceding pages, may be fully an- 
nihilated, torn out by the roots, and the earth swept 
of all his intolerable abominations, the Son of Man 
will descend from heaven — when, we know not — 
but he will descend, gather all his people into one 
glorious company, and in flaming fire everlastingly 
destroy his incorrigible enemies. Every false sys- 
tem will then perish, political and ecclesiastical, or 
those that are mixed and intertwine into new forms 
and combinations^ The head of the serpent will 
be finally and eternally bruised and broken. What- 
ever may remain after this general cleansing of the 
earth, whether men or things, will become the ma- 
terials of a new Empire and of a glorious and tri- 
umphant dispensation. 

The above four particulars appear, I think, fully, 
from the prophecies we have now illustrated in the 



312 



THE NEW MGHT. 



several parts of this volume. We shall conclude 
the whole matter by the quotation of a prophecy af 
the New Testament which most gloriously depicts 
the fall of antichrist under the name of Babylon, b 
"And after these things I saw another angel come 
down from heaven, having great power; and the 
earth was lightened with his glory, and he cried 
mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the 
great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habita- 
tion of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and 
a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all 
nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her 
fornication, and the kings of the earth have com- 
mitted fornication with her, and the merchants of 
the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of 
her delicacies. 

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not parta- 
kers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues; for her sins have reached unto heaven, and 
God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her 
even as she rewarded you, and double unto her 
double according to her works: in the cup which 
she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she 
hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much 
torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her 
heart, 1 sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see 
no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in 
one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she 
shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the 
Lord God who judgeth her. And kings of the 
earth, who have committed fornication and lived de- 
bRev. xviii. andxii. 



ON ANTI-CHRIST. 3 1 3 

liciously with her, shall bewailher, and lament for 
her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
standing afar oflf for the fear of her torment, saying, 
Alas, alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city! 
for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the 
•merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over 
her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any 
more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and pre- 
cious stones, and of p>arls, and fine linen, and pur- 
ple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and 
all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels 
of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and 
marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, 
and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, 
and wheat, and beasts, and shc^ep, and horses, and 
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the 
fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from 
thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly 
are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no 
more at all. The merchants of these things which 
were made rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the 
fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and say- 
ing, Alas, alas! that great city, that was clothed in 
fine linen, and purple, and decked with gold, and 
scarlet, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one 
hour so great riches is come to nought. And every 
ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, 
and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and 
cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, say- 
ing. What city is like unto this great city ! And 
they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping 
and wailing, saying, Alas, alas! that great ci4y> 



314 THE NEW LIGHT. 

wherein were made rich all that had ships in the 
sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is 
she made desolate. Rejoice over her, ihou heaven, 
and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath 
avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up 
a stone like a great mill-stone, and cast it into the 
sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city 
Baylon be thrown down, and ?hall be found no more 
at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, 
and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no 
more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever 
craft he be, shall be found any more in thee: and 
the sound of a mill-stone shall be head no more at 
all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no 
more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom 
and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in 
thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the 
earlh; for by ihy sorceries were all nations de- 
ceived. And in her was found the blood of proph- 
ets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon 
the earth. 

And after the-se things I heard a great voice of 
much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia: Salvation, 
and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our 
God: for true and righteous are his judgments; for 
he hath judged (he 2:reat whore, which did corrupt 
the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged 
the blood of his servants at her hand. And again 
they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever 
and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the 
four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat 
on the throne, saying, Amen: Alleluia. And a 



ON ANTI-CHRIST, 315 

voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our 
God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both 
small and great. And I heard as it were the voice 
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many wa- 
ters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, 
Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: 
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife 
hath made herself ready. And to her was granted 
that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and 
white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 
And he saith unto me. Write, Blessed are they 
which are called unto the marriage-supper of the 
Lamb. And he saith unto me. These are the true 
sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship 
him. And he said unto me. See thou do it not: I am 
thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the 
testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony 
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And 1 saw heav- 
en opened: and behold, a white horse; and he that 
sat upon him was called. Faithful and True, and in 
righteousness he doth judge and make war. His 
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were 
many crowns; and he had a name written that no 
man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed 
with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is 
called The Word of God. And the armies which 
were in heaven followed him upon white horses, 
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of 
his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should 
smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod 
of iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the 



316 THE NEW LIGHT. 

fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he 
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, 
KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he 
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the flowls that 
fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather your- 
selves together unto the supper of the great God; 
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh 
of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the 
flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small 
and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of 
the earth, and their armies, gathered together to 
make war against him that sat on the horse, and 
against his army. And the beast was taken, and 
with him the false prophet that wrought miacles be- 
fore him, with which he deceived them that had re- 
ceived the mark of the beast, and them that wor- 
shipped his image. These both were cast alive in- 
to a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the 
remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat 
upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his 
mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 
I. Obedience necessary to Salvation. 

Universalism introduced and Defined — Plan of refuting it — Ar- 
guments from Faith — Faith necessary to Salvation — Pardon 
necessary to Salvation — Faith not essential in Universalism — 
No Pardon in Universalism — Utter absurdity of Universalism — 
What is Absurd, cannot be Divine — Conclusion. 

Having now disposed of the great subjects of the 
Christian Church and i\ntichrist by presenting a 
general view of thai eading features of each, it is due 
to the reader that we give a concise and clear view 
of that obedience to which the promise of eternal 
salvation is made in the Scriptures. In another 
place a part of this subject has been disposed of, 
namely, that obedience which an alien or sinner 
must yield in order to become or be a christian; but 
there is another obedience, or other acts of it, which 
must be rendered by all who would secure eternal 
salvation at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
This shall form the theme of several succeeding 
chapters. 

But as the necessity of this obedience has been 
called in question; as not a few speakers and wri- 
ters have taken upon themselves the responsibility 
of saying that the greatest sinner is as sure of eter- 
nal happiness as the greatest saint; and as the ar- 
guments by which this most iniquitous and absurd 
dogma are painted by the gaudy colors of rhetoric, 
or guilded with a glitter of deceptive words; it 
shall be my aim to pursue such writers and speak- 
ers, sword of truth in hand, till I battle them to the 



318 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ground on which they belong, that is, the ground of 
infidelity. The reader needs not to be told that I 
here allude to that most noisy and loquacious race 
of men known under the name of Universalists. 

It shall be my purpose, in the following essaysyto 
establish the following proposition: that a contin- 
ued OBEDIENCE FROM THE TIME OP CONVERSION TILL 
DEATH, IS ESSENTIAL TO ETERNAL LIFE, ON THE PART 
OF ALL SUCH AS ARE ACCOUNTABLE BEINGS: Or, that 

this life is so connected with a fuluix one^ that there can 
be no salvation ihere^ to any who have sinned^ unless 
through faith and obedience here. — In order to pre- 
sent this truth forcibly, it shall be my method to se- 
lect a number of scriptures, and accompany them 
with such notes and remarks as may naturally arise 
from them. Each passage shall form a distinct 
section. 

§ I. Out of the foregoing proposition others arise 
in the course of thought and reflection. One may 
be stated in the following terms: Faith in God and 
in his Son Jesus Christy was. by Jesus and his apostles^ 
said to be essential to the salvation of sinners. This is 
sustained by the following scriptures and many oth- 
ers which we have not space to copy. "As Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wildernss, even so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believ- 
eth in him should not perish but have eternal life. 
For God so loved the world that he gave bis only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish but have everlasting life." a 
'• While ye have light, believe in the Light, that ye 
may be children of the light." 6 « But these (signs) 
a John iii. 14— 17— b xii. 36, 



ON UNIVERSALIS3Ia 31^ 

are written that ye might believe that Jesus Christ 
is the Son of God, and that, believing, ye might 
have life through his name." c '^ f hose by the way 
side are they that hear; then cometh the devil and 
taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they 
should believe and be saved. ^' d " Be it known un- 
to you, therefore, men and brethren, that through 
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
sins; and by him all that believe are justified from 
all things from which ye could not be justified by 
the law of Moses." e " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. ^' 
"The word of faith which we preach, that if thou 
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and 
shall believe in thy heart that God hath raised him 
from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the 
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 
mouth confession is made unto salvation."/" 

The above passages, as the intelligent reader 
knows, are but a sample of an immense weight of 
testimony that both Testaments bear to the truth of 
our proposition, that faith in God and in his Messi- 
ah, is essential to the salvation of sinners* " With- 
out faith it is impossible to please God;" and it is 
equally impossible to be saved from sin in a way 
that displeases him. These passages clearly teach 
that God is pleased to save them who believe with 
the heart and make confession with the mouth: but 
as the words are all spoken to men in this life, and 
not in another, it is preposterous to affirm, that should 
any fail to believe and confess here, they will bd 
presented with the privilege hereafter. Such prir- 
« John XX. 31. d Luke <\i\, 12. e Acts xiii. 39, 40. f Ronwx. 9-10, 



320 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ilege, to say the least, is neither mentioned nor im- 
plied in the passages quoted. To affirm that it is, is 
to make the sentences mean more than they say, 
which is nonsense. 

In opposition, however, to all this clear and over- 
whelming testimony, Uriiversalism teaches, that faith 
exercised in this life, confession made here, and obe- 
dience rendered to all the divine precepts, are by 
no means necessary to eternal salvation: for its ad- 
vocates tell us, that the worst sinner is just as sure of 
heaven as the best man that ever lived. The scrip- 
tures affirm pardon, peace, hope, joy, and salvation, 
to them that believe; all which is acknowledged by 
the pleaders for this doctrine; but they proceed im- 
mediately to affirm final or eternal salvation to every 
one, believer or infidel I I would ask if this is not 
to make the scriptures void? These teachers take 
upon them to correct the Holy Spirit, who should 
have said, if Universalism be true, "That whosoev- 
er believeth in him might have everlasting life," and 
them that believe not shall as certainly have it, too! 
There is not a place where either present or future 
salvation from sin is promised to an unbeliever, g- 

§ II. Another proposition may be stated thus:— 
Pardon of sin through Jaith in the blood of Christy and 
in submision to the divine government^ is an essential ar- 
ticle of the christian religion. — Any scheme of reli- 
gion that will not convey pardon to its possessor, is 
not only not the christian religion, but is a religion 
for which a rational creature cannot thank God. 
We make a very few selections from the scriptures to 
establish this point. "Repent ye therefore, and be 
g Universalist Expositor, page 7 — 9. 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 321 

converted that your sins maybe blotted out — Re- 
pent and be baptised every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins — That re- . 
pentance and remission of sins should be preached 
in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jeru- 
salem — By him all thai believe are justified — Him 
hath God set forth to be a propitiation through faith 
in his blood — God sent Jesus to bless you in turning 
away every one of you from his iniquities." These, 
with an infinite number of other passages, prove 
conclusively, that justification or the pardon of sin, 
is an essential and most precious article of the Chris- 
tian Creed, — Tell the poor heart-broken sinner who 
is smarting under remorse; whose soul is alive to the 
fear of destruction for having so much and so long 
trampled upon and disregarded the divine goodness; 
whose hope trembles at the foot of the cioss with 
scarce confidence to look up; whose eye pours out 
the tear of contrition, and who asks for the way of 
life in all the haste of penitence, 'What shall I do to 
be saved?' — Tell him, I say, that the precious blood 
poured from the wounds of Jesus, was shed forhim^ 
for his pardon^ justification or remission^ and you 
make his heart leap for joy 1 Tell him to obey the 
gospel, to submit to "the form of doctrine^' recom- 
mended by the ambassadors of Jesus; and, believ- 
ing in his heart that God raised him from the dead, 
and confessing with the mouth, he will "obey from 
the heart." With joy and gladness the man be- 
comes a christian, and joyfully and gladly continues 
to obey whatever precepts are fitted to his condition 
as pardoned, justified, adopted, and saved. 
21 



322 THE NEW LIGHT. 

The reader will, I trust, particularly notice by 
what means, or rather, for whose sake, pardon is 
pronounced and communicated. The sinner him- 
self does not deserve it: if he did, God would be- 
stow it not as a favor, but as the payment of a debt- 
The acts of either the mind or body, or both, in re- 
ceiving it, are not meritorious; for these acts being 
right morally or in themselves, are such as all in- 
telligent creatures out to do out of obligation to 
God, or never to have left undone. The perform- 
ance of duty cannot procure a favor only in so far 
as a sovereign may be disposed out of good-will to 
reward the obedient. Pardon, therefore, is bestow- 
ed out of regard to a meritorious cause, and that 
meritorious cause is "the precious blood of Jesus 
Christ.^' It follows from all this, that pardon is the 
remission of punishment as well as the guilt of sin* 
It is impossible for a sinner to be pardoned of cer- 
tain offences, and yet be liable to suffer whatever 
punishment they may deserve. Such a pardon 
would be no pardon at all. 

Universalism is a system of dire and unbending 
necessity, and knows nothing of pardon. It as- 
sumes that every sinner shall suffer, in this life, ail 
he deserves — or, that God forgives, yet on such 
principles as will not allow the ojBfender to escape 
any suffering that may be inflicted at the hands of 
justice. Then, where justice leaves him, mercy 
finds him, and does her office. Hence, in the vo- 
cabulary of Universalists,all punishments are dis- 
ciplinary, and discipline itself is the utmost curse of 
the divine law; and when a man is said to be cursedj 



ON UNIVERALISM. 32S 

he is put under the most wholesome discipline which 
will be sure to terminate in his reformation. If this 
principle were a true one, we would have some sin- 
gular doctrines advanced in the Scriptures. For in- 
stance; "The curse of the Lord is in the house of 
the wicked," (Prov. iii. 33.) That is, if Universalism 
be true, the wholesome discipline of the Lord is in 
the house of the wicked, and the very best thing 
upon the whole that could be in their houses! — ''He 
that giveth to the poor shall not lack; but he that 
hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.'^ (Prov. 
xxviii. 27.) That is, according to Universalism, he 
who is cruel to the poor, shall be so dealt with by 
divine justice, as inevitably to secure his reforma- 
tion and consequent salvation, and it will turn out 
that his cruelty to the poor helped rather than retar- 
ded his eternal blessedness! — "Render unto them a 
recompense, O Lord, according to the work of their 
hands. Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto 
them! Persecute and destroy them in anger from 
under the heavens of the Lord!" (Lam. iii. 66.) 
That is, as interpreted by Universalism, Put them 
under discipline which will restore them to holiness 
and salvation — Punish them all that their sins de- 
serve, curse them in the best modes of thy mercy, 
and damn them into eternal salvation! — Again,- 
" And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the 
children, and the heart of the children to their fath- 
ers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse! 
(Mai. iv. 6.) That is, lest I reform the whole nation 
suddenly! — The Lord said to Abraham, "I will bles& 
them that bless thee, and curse him thatcurseth 



324 THE NEW LIGHT • 

thee." (Gen, xii. 3.) That is to say, on the princi- 
ples of Universalism, I will bless them that bless 1 
thee, and will reform him that curseth thee! I will 
put him under such discipline that he will not be 
able to avoid the very richest blessings! — Once 
more: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent. 
Because thou hast done this, thou art mrsed above 
all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon 
thy bel]y shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all 
the days of thy life." (Gen. iii. 14.) It seems, how- 
ever, that the work of discipline and reformation 
proceeds slowly with the serpent; for it has not yet, 
after near six thousand years, either lifted him from 
his belly, or altered his diet. But the superior vis- 
ion of Universalists may after a while discover, that 
making the serpent go on his belly, is the \eTy best 
mode of giving him feet and walking locomotive 
powers! They are prodigious philosophers, and if 
they shall prove that black is white, or that false- 
hood is truth, we must not be astonished at their 
powers. 

Let us proceed a little farther. Paul says, "As 
many as are of the works of the law, are under the 
curse." (Gal. iii. 10.) That is, on the principles of 
Universalist pardon, they are under discipline and 
in the unmistakable road to salvation. — Jesus will 
say to some, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," 
(Matt. XXV. 41.) All which means, in this new and 
word-inverting philosophy, Come to me, by discip- 
line, in a round-about departing way — come to me 
by going ofF— be reformed by the devil and his an- 



ON UmVERSALISM. 325 

gels; let them whip and scorch you as much as you 
deserve, and this will drive you up to the throne of 
glory — let them cwr^e you into life eternal! — Paul 
says, "If we sin wilfully after that we have receiv- 
ed the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no 
Biore sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking- 
for of judgment and firey indignation that shall de- 
vour the adversaries.^' (Heb. x. 26^ 27.) That is, 
the discipline, though severe, is the very best thing 
that can happen to them, and which, if they under- 
stood the divine intention, is the thing they would 
choose for themselves, as the only mode of bringing 
them to eternal happiness. The whole scheme is 
therefore utterly false, and makes foolishness of the 
plainest promises and threatnings in the Bible. Be- 
fore Universalism can stand, or pass among the hon- 
est and intelligent, we must either have a new Bible, 
or the words of the old one must be made to pos- 
sess another meaning — neither of which, I suppose, 
will happen very soon. 

Let the advocates of Universalism say what they 
may, so long as they hold that all punishment is dis- 
ciplinary and must result in the good of the offender, 
so long the above consequences must legitimately fol- 
low — That there is no real curse or evil in the uni- 
verse, or that all evils are only apparent — That there 
is no such thing as a real bona Jide pardon, only an 
apparent one — and that all the promises and threat- 
ningsin the Bible — the one to the obedient, the oth- 
er to the disobedient — are but a pompous parade of 
words with no sincerity of meaning. Universalism 
says to the man whose hands are stained with blood 



326 THE NEW IIQHT. 

and rapine, Sir, you are under the most salutary dis- 
cipline which cannot fail to bring you to God! It 
says to the liar, the thief, the lecherous, the abomi- 
nable of every stripe and grade of human depravi- 
ty. Go on, you are on the high road to heaven — Go 
on, you cannot break beyond the bounds of the dis- 
cipline of Omnipotence! Sin which has its source 
in natural evil, cannot contaminate you in the next 
world — Go ahead, or stand still, do something or do 
nothing, do good or do evil, you cannot mistake the 
way to immortality and eternal life! You will be 
damned, to be sure, in this life,for all your misdeeds, 
but the deeper you sink into damnation the sooner 
you will rise to glory! 

Now, it is evident that the Almighty does pro- 
nounce curses upon certain incorrigible persons: it 
is equally evident that a wholesome dscipline is not 
a curse, but a blesssing. It follows, therefore, that 
more than discipline or chastisement is required by 
justice in every case of offence. Adam was put un- 
der discipline before he offended at all, which shows 
that justice no more requires discipline than mercy, 
or wisdom, or power, or truth* It follows, likewise, 
that whatever more justice requires than mere dis- 
cipline or chastisement, may be matter of forgive- 
ness from the divine clemency. But Universalism 
makes no abatement to give scope to mercy: sins 
are not forgotten, blotted out, erased, but remem- 
bered, visited, and the sinner is punished, in every 
case, to the full demerit of his crimes. It follows, 
finally, that there is no such thing as a curse, un- 
less we can imagine that God sometimes punishes 
men more than they deserve ! 



ON UNIVERSALISM, 327 

§ III. But pardon is not only predicated of faith 
in the blood of Christ, but that blood is constantly held 
forth as that for the sake of which the blessing is bestow* 
ed. — Hence pardon is ascribed to the divine mercy, 
as in the following passages: "But after that the 
kindness and love of God our Savior towards maa 
appeared, not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, 
by the washing of regeneration and the renewing 
of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundant- 
ly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justi- 
fied by his grace, we should be made heirs accord- 
ing the hope of eternal life." h "God who ^is 
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved 
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened 
us together with Christ — by grace are ye saved — 
and hath raised us up together, and made us sit to- 
gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." i "But 
where sin abounded grace did much more abound; 
that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might 
grace reign through righteousness [that is, by justi- 
fication,] unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
Lord." k 

The intelligent reader requires not to be informed, 
that the above passages are only a few from among 
many which teach that pardon proceeds from the be- 
nevolence or mercy of God. But we will now de- 
termine whether there be any mercy in a Universa- 
list pardon. Favor is something received for which 
the recipient can present no claim. Suppose, then, 
as Universalism supposes, that God will not pardon 
me till after I have suffered all that my sins deserve, 
Tit.iii.4— 7. iEph.ii.4— 6. k Rom. v. 20^-^1. 



328 THE NEW LIGHT. 

what favor do I partake of in that case? Is it fayor 
to be compelled to suffer? When I suffer, my suf- 
ferings are either just or unjust. If just^ then it 
would be a favor to release me by pardon, and noth- 
ing less than a release would be a pardon. But if 
my sufferings are unjust, then it would be cruelty, 
not justice, to hold me a prisoner. When men are 
justified, they are said to be justified from certain 
things: but if we suffer and must suffer the full de- 
merit of sin before pardon, what remains for us to 
be justified from? If I am delivered from what I 
deserve, there is favor in the power which cuts short 
my punishment; but if I am delivered from what i 
do not deserve, it would be unjust to withhold such 
deliverance. If therefore, Universalism be true, 
there it nothing to be justified from, unless it maybe 
■punishment which we do not deserve! Hence, if 
there be any grace or mercy in the boasted God of 
Universalism, it is to be manifested in something 
€lse than the remission of sins. The Lord says by 
his prophet, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and 
the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him re- 
turn unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him', 
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 7;» 
That is, according to this wretched scheme of quib- 
bles and presumptions. Let him return to the Lord 
w^ho will have no mercy upon him^ but who will com- 
pel him to suffer all he deserves; and to our God 
who will abundantly punish him for every sin he has 
committed! Such a God is a tyrant, having no pa- 
ternal feelings for those who are out of the way. 
If forgiveness cannot take place till after the sia- 
m Isai. Iv. 7. 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 329 

ner has received full punishment for the crimes for- 
given, then it follows that the promise of pardon 
made to faith and obedience, amounts to an assur- 
ance on the part of God, that he will not treat the 
sinner unjustly — will not chastise him more than he 
deserves! For instance, — A criminal has been sen- 
tenced to ten years imprisonment. The executive 
pardon releases him from the punishment. But 
should he be actually confined and suffer five years, 
still the executive pardon would release him from 
the remaining time. But, should he suffer the whole 
penalty of the law, ten years, he would need no 
pardon, or could not be forgiven — pardon would be 
an unmeaning ceremony to him in relation to the 
offence for which he had suffered. And should the 
governor happen to have no more sense than to of- 
fer pardon to the criminal, such offer would be con- 
sidered as an insult added to misfortune. From the 
beginning of the world such have been the senti- 
ments of mankind in reference to pardon or forgive- 
ness; and such are the views of Universalists them- 
selves in every application of the term except in 
reference to religion. Here^ its meaning must be in- 
verted for the sake of the system. 

As things are made plain by analogies, take the 
following similitude, which will show the grace or 
mercy of a 'Universalist pardon. — C D is indebted to 
A B in the sum of ten thousand. A B, the money 
being due, says, " Mr. C D, it is true you owe me 
some thousands, but then I am able to forgive you, 
and I will forgive you!^^ At these words the heart 
of C D leaps for joy, and he cannot conceal his 



330 THE KEW LIGHT, 

gratitude. He speaks in the highest terms of the 
clemency of his creditor, and lauds it to the skies* 
But A B meets him afterwards and explains the 
matter — for A B is a Universalists, and wishes to be 
one practically: and he sajs, "Mr, C D, I told you 
that I am able to forgive you^ and will forgive you^ 
but I must have the debt, principal and interest. I 
did not say that I would forgive the debt^ but that I 
would forgive you. God forgives our sins^ but we 
must suffer their consequences — so I forgive you this 
debt, but you must pay it first!'^ And what is the 
reply of the debtor? "You insult me, cries CD; 
^'you offered me a favor ^ but I find your words to 
have no other meaning than a down-right mockery 
at my misfortunes!" 

It seems that the Universalist clergy must have 
derived their notions of forgiveness from the prac- 
tices of the North American Indians in reference to 
their prisoners at the gauntlet. A rank is formed of 
men, women, and children, on each side of the pris- 
oner who is to be forgiven^ that is, adopted into their 
tribes. Between these ranks he must run from one 
end to the other. As he goes, the squaws score him 
with switches, the boys jag him with pointed sticks, 
and the men beat him with clubs: but if he can 
succeed, through this formidable array of imple- 
ments, in reaching the council-house, the Indians 
forgive him, and he becomes one of the family! So 
it is, exactly, with the god of Universalism; he is 
the greatest savage in the Universe; for, like the 
Indians, he forgives with a vengeance! He insults 
our humiliations and misfortunes by saying, "I free- 



ON UNI VERS ALISM. 331 

iy forgive you all your sins, but you cannot escape 
any part of their punishnaent — I forgive the debtor 
but not the 6/eZ>^" A sinner can never be brought to 
love such a god as this. If I must be compelled to 
suffer all that my sins deserve before God will for- 
give me, I cannot thank him for the best pardon in 
his gift, any more than I can thank the merciless 
creditor who, having said he would forgive me a 
thousand dollars, coerces me at last to pay principal 
and interest. Such a man would be a liar, and 
such a god the devil. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
II. Same subject continued. 

Further Remarks on Pardon — How this Subject has puzzled Uni- 
versalists — Some instances of Pardon as taught in the Scrip- 
tures — Absurdity of the Views of Universalists — Principles of 
the Divine Procedure in Pardon — No object gained by Pardon 
if Universalism be true — Various remarks reducing the sys- 
tem to an Absurdity — Description of Universalism as drawn by 
a Poet. 

Pardon of Sin is certainly a capital blessing of 
the New Covenant. If the sinner cannot be par- 
doned, he will suffer, of course, the penalties of all 
the laws he has broken: when he is pardoned, his 
liabilities to those penalties are taken off or sepa- 
rated from his destiny. In this light men have al- 



332 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ways understood pardon, and, until some good rea- 
son can be given that God has a different meaning 
for the term, so they must continue to understand it. 
But, if we allow that our Heavenly Father means 
by pardon the very reverse of what we mean among 
ourselves, when he speaks to us on the subject with- 
out defining his meaning, his communications can- 
not be termed a revelation. But he nowhere informs 
us, when using this term, that he means differently 
from our meaning when we use it: he speaks to us 
in our own language, and has no vocabulary for 
man but man's vocabulary. Therefore, when he pro- 
nounces pardon upon us, we rejoice in the sentence, 
because we are assured we shall not be punished as 
much as we deserve. 

The subject of pardon has, of late, greatly per- 
plexed Universalist writers and speakers. A writer 
in one of their papers, not knowing what else to 
say, says, "Although we are punished to the full ex- 
tent of what we deserve for our sins, we need pardon 
in order to be reconciled to the divine wilL^^ This is a 
perfectly new discovery in religion, and is as false as 
it is new. Every one knows, who knows any thing 
of the Scriptures, that we must be reconciled before 
we can be pardoned, or before we can be willing to 
receive the blessing. Pardon never did, never will 
reconcile any one to the will of God. It is the of- 
fice of the gospel to produce in us a spirit of recon- 
ciliation in order that we may receive all its bless- 
ings. But according to this wrong-side-up pamph- 
leteer, God pardons those who hate him, those who 
are impenitent, and this reconciles them to the divine 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 333 

will! An instance or two, however, from the histo- 
ries of such as have received pardon, will rebuke 
this stupid theory and vindicate the truth. The en- 
quirers on the day of Pentecost, (Acts ii.) were rec- 
onciled to the divine will before they were pardoned. 
They cried out "to Peter and the rest of the apos- 
tles, 'What shall we do?'" This inquiry proves 
them to have been reconciled to do the will of God 
so soon as they should know what it was. And 
when Peter told them what to do, they 'gladly' did 
what he commanded "for the remission of sins,^' 
which shows they were pardoned in doing the divine 
will, and were reconciled to it that they might obey. 
So then, we have proved that pardon cannot, in the 
nature of the case, be bestowed save in obedience; 
and that obedience, in the nature of the case, can- 
not be performed acceptably but out of antecedent 
reconciliation. — To the above list of proofs I might 
add the case of Saul of Tarsus, who was reconciled 
to the divine will that he might be pardoned, and 
all the cases detailed under the immediate labors of 
the apostles: but such a labor is uncalled-for. But, 
if Universalists will blame us for using the term 
^pardon^ in reference to religion, in the same sense 
that we use it when we accuse or excuse one anoth- 
er, their controversy is with God — for he has not de- 
fined the word for us in any other way than as we 
had defined it for ourselves. However, they are as 
likely to quarrel with the God of the Bible, as with 
the devil himself, aad more so; for they ajflfect to 
beheve that God exists, which they do not affirm of 
old Diabolos. 



334 THE NEW LIGHT. 

The scriptures have beautifully illustrated the na- 
ture of pardon, and God's mode of bestowing it* 
Our Lord taught his disciples to pray, saying, '^For- 
give us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Well^ 
how do we forgive our debtors? How do Universa- 
lists forgive theirs? The answer is, If it be a book- 
account, we enter credit in full, or cross it off, as is 
the manner of some: if the debt is held in the form of 
a note or obligation, we deliver it up to the debtor. 
And we thus pray God to forgive us our dehls^ or 
sins^ AS we forgive our debtors, or those who offend 
against us. When we forgive a debt, we take from 
the person owing it all legal obligation, and by this 
act put him under obligation, in a moral way, to ex- 
press gratitude. So when God forgives us, he an- 
nuls all legal obligation as to the score forgiven, 
which plants gratitude in the heart of the offender. 
The commercial principle is taken to illustrate the 
moral, and is, in fact, the same, in this application. 

Paul says to christians — "Be ye kind one to an- 
other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as 
God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you." m Chris- 
tians sometimes sin against one another. This is 
done by breach of some of the laws of God, or of 
society. But compassion is a cardinal virtue with 
them. Like their Heavenly Father, they are dis- 
posed to forgive the delinqueut. They will not 
therefore be disposed to push their claims to the full 
extent that even justice might seem to demand, and 
will relinquish, for the sake of mercy, those claims 
which, if insisted on, would subject the offender to 
sufferings incompatible with the REiaN of favor and 
m Eph. iv. 32, 



ON UNIVERSAI/ISM, 335 

g-eneral principles of benevolence. And the doctrine 
of Jesus, as above expressed, is, that he who is inex- 
orable towards his brother who has oiSfended, will 
meet, when he appeals for pardon, an inexorable God! 
^^If ye do not forgive men their trespasses, neither 
will your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.'^ 
If it were otherwise, there could not subsist the least 
grain of value in pardon; nay, pardon itrelf would 
adniit of no definition but a name, a shadow of a 
shade, a figment not worth a groat! Make me suffer 
all that my sins deserve, and I thank neither God nor 
man for pardon: I stand upon my ov/n rock and praise 
my own fortitude. 

But an apostle developes the principle of the di- 
vine procedure in remission — ^'God, for Cpirist's 
SAKE, HATH FORGIVEN You.'^ Now, if pardou, accor- 
ding to the latest fashion of Universalism, be some- 
thing we receive after we have suffered full punish- 
ment for sin, permit us to look after this somethings 
What is it? Be it what it may, it is bestowed not for 
our sakes, but for the sake of Christ. But if I suffer 
all that justice demands before I can be pardoned, I 
cannot be pardoned for the sake of Jesus, as I am en- 
titled to the blessing out of the mere principle of jus- 
tice towards myself. If, therefore, I am pardoned af- 
ter full chastisement, pardon is justly my due, and 
cannot be by grace. If I do not deserve it, though I 
have fully suffered, and if, at last, I receive it for the 
sake of another, is not this whole matter a plain con- 
tradiction in terms? I can do very well without par- 
don, provided I have been punished all I deserves 
God may withhold or confer it, as he pleases, and I 



336 THE NEW LIGHT. 

care very little which! Bat when he pardons, he 
acts either out of mercy or justice: If he is guided 
by mercy^ then he must take off some of my punish- 
ment: if by justice^ I am bound either to suffer to 
the full, or receive remission for the sake of another; 
-but if I am pardoned for the sake of another, it fol- 
lows that I do not suffer all I deserve. But in the 
scheme of redemption justice, through a Mediator, as 
much demands the pardon of a believer as mercy 
does. Both demand it. Yet if mercy demands that 
I should suffer what justice decrees, justice must lib- 
erate me for the sake of no one, having nothing far- 
ther against me if I have already fully suffered. To 
say, therefore, that I am pardoned for the sake of Je- 
sus, after I have snflered the demands, of law and jus- 
tice, is to say that God gives me for the sake of anoth- 
er what I might justly claim as a right of my own — 
which is nonsense. It follows plainly, that Universa- 
lism denies that God forgives or justifies any one, and 
that it sets aside the sufferings of Christ as a substi- 
tute for sinners, and is infidelity. 

The scriptures, however, nowhere speak of suffer- 
ing the demands of justice in order to pardon. This 
sounds too much like the exploded doctrine of pen- 
ance. Universalism and Catholicism coincide at this 
point. But we approach another part of the sub- 
ject; for, that obedience to all the laws of the Lord, 
is necessary, in the first place, to the remission of sins, 
and then to the enjoyment of eternal life, is a matter 
so plain and common-place, taught at so many points 
in the scriptures, and so agreeable to reason and all 
our ideas of fitness, that a more extended argument 
is not necessary here. 



ON UNIVERSALIS^. 337 

Touching the subject alluded to, it may be suffi- 
cient to say, that God can have no intelligent object 
in bestowing pardon on the principles of the late- 
fashioned Universalism, Let us enquire. Can such 
a pardon make the culprit. Aoppzer^ It cannot be: 
for, having paid up, by his own agonies, the lait 
mite which justice claimed, or discipline required, 
he becomes happy as a matter of course, just as wc 
feel happy when an old careous tooth which had 
pestered us for weeks by its aching, quits, or is ex- 
tracted. It is not thepardon that makes him hap- 
py, but the cessation of punishment. Nor can it 
make him grateful', for Human creatures are grate- 
ful only in proportion to favors received; but there 
is no favor in being compelled to suffer for sin, and 
hence there is no favor, but a lack of it, in what is 
here called pardon. Nor can it make him better-^ 
for men are made better, not by suffering the pen- 
alties of crime, but by the influence of goodness on 
their hearts in the hope of pardon and acceptance. 
This boasted pardon cannot be salvation from sin; 
for what is there of sin that may be dreaded after 
we have suffered all we deserve for it? There is no 
salvation from sin in Universalism. Salvation is a 
word that does not belong to the system. Whatev- 
er it is that sin brings upon us, we must inevitably 
suffer; there is no avoiding this destiny, if Univer- 
salism be true — neither God nor Christ will save 
us from it! From what, then, will we be saved? 
Not from guilty (or we must suffer it: not from dis% 
eases^ for we must suffer them: not from deaths for we 
must all die. Jesus came to save his ,people from 
22 



338 THE NEW lilQHTo 

their sins; but if he do not save them from the con* 
sequences and punishments of sin, it is impossible 
to tell what saving them from sin can mean. To 
say of me that God saves me from my sins, by ma- 
king me suffer the demands of his law upon the sin- 
ner, is altogether the most wild, foolish, and sense- 
less thought that ever entered a sane man^s head. 
Permit me to say what salvation from sin does mean 
in the Bible acceptation. Christ saves us from the 
love of sin by faith in the whole scheme of salvation* 
^' We love him because he first loved us." He saves 
us from the practice of sin by an unfeigned repen- 
tance, by which we are enabled to institute a new 
course of conduct. He saves us from the guilt of 
sinning by remission of all our offences, so soon as 
we ''obey from the heart the form of doctrine" de- 
livered to us in the apostolic embassy. He saves 
us from the state of sin at the same time — for it is 
by baptism we pass out of one state into another, 
out of the world into the church. Hence baptism 
was preached by "Peter and the rest of the apos- 
tles," (faith and repentance being understood of 
course,) "for the remission of sins," n He saves us 
from the power of sin by giving us the Holy Spirit, 
which sheds abroad the love of God, as well as our 
love to him, in our hearts. We come to love and 
delight in the service of God, and find that his "com- 
mandments are not grievous:" and loving him, we 
are able to overcome the world. Finally, he saves 
^ us from all the effects of sin by raising us from the 
dead into life everlasting. This is a true and a great 
salvation every way worthy of the name 5 but the 
n Aets ii. 3S. 



^N UiSn ERSALISM* B39 

-salvation of which Uniyersalists speak so loud and 
long, is in fact, no salvation at all. Nay, if the 
principles of which they speak be true, there never 
<:an be such a thing as salvation from sin. Can a 
dinner taper out of transgression if sin be its only 
and its own punishment? How would he do it? 
Adam, having sinned once, according to this doc- 
trine, felt guilti/: well, his guilty feeling was his 
punishment* When he sinned again, another pang 
of guilt was his punishment, ifcc* But having sold 
him.self to death as the wages of his sin, he must 
continue to suffer guilt which is itself sin, so long as 
!ie is in a state of sin; so that he pays off by one sin 
what he incurred by another. Of course, accord- 
ing to this rule, he never can get free of debt. Or 
could we imagine that salvation could ever come in 
this way, and upon these principles, it would be a 
salvation by law, a justification not by grace. Uni- 
versalism makes the transgression of the law and 
the penalty the same thing: for he that sins once 
is bound to sin again, and again, and again, in or- 
der to be punished for the first ofiTence; then, reck- 
oning the second offence as a first one, he must sin 
again, as before in order to be punished: and so 
making every offence a starting point, sins accumu- 
late, the man becomes worse and worse, till finally 
his punishment would kill him, if Universalism be 
true. It is not, however, true: for though men* by 
continuing in sin generally become worse and worse, 
as all experience shows, their guilt, or shame, or 
remorse, is felt less and less the further they go in 
crime, till many ^'become past feeling and give 



340 THE NEW LIGHT* 

themselves over to work all uncleanness with greedi- 
ness.'^ The reader will here be pleased to see that 
we have turned Universalism inside out: for how can 
they who are past feeling feel their punishment in 
this life? Universalism, thou art a phantom and a 
cheat! Of all who have sinned, obedience to the 
gospel, in order to pardon and final salvation, is ev- 
ery where demanded. The Lord will have his au- 
thority respected; for he will not speak without 
meaning. 

The reader will doubtless now concur with me in 
saying, that any scheme of doctrine which sets aside 
or makes unnecessary the sufferings of Christ, or 
that denies the necessity of pardon in order to eter- 
nal life, is not only false, but impious. And such is 
Universalism: for while it makes every sinner suffer 
for himself, there is no need of one to suffer for him; 
and while it teaches that God will not forgive the 
sinner till after full and perfect punishment for sin, 
there is no conceivable idea of what pardon is or of 
what use it can be! So that Universalism is a bun- 
dle of contradictions and absurdities the most gross 
imaginable. It is a perfect babel, a confusion of 
tongues. It is well described in the following Hues: 

"Then see, ah, see the horrid Babel rise ! 
The words used heretofore which people thought 
Of meaning clear, no meaning now possess, 
Or quite another! Mortar now means brirk^ 
* And hxick bitumen ; and bitumen aught 

The heavens beneath, except itself! Now fool 
A wise man means, and now a wise man, fool. 
f , Water means wind or spirit ; fog or smoke 

High rolling up to heaven, obscuring all, 
Is iunshinQ now ; afterwards means before^ 



ON UNI VERS ALISM. 341 

And past means present, or the future; hell 
Old Hinnom is, or conscience : as for sin, 
'Tis but a Rail-road leaiding down, but down 
Is up, in this wild category — sin 
A Railroad is with locomotives throng'd 
And cars with passengers: the devil's self 
Is nobody — and all for glory bound." 



CHAPTER XXV. 
III. Necessity of Obedience further considered. 

How the L«ve ot God operates in the Scheme of Salvation — How 
the Divine Justice concurs in Human Redemption — Obedience 
to the Divine Precepts shown to be connected with ourEterual 
Destiny — An extended Argument from the Second Chapter of 
the Epistle to the Romans — Conclusion. 

I have fully shown, in the two preceding chapters, 
that there is neither pardon nor salvation by the 
gospel if the leading principles of Universalism be 
true: for the present we omit any further argument 
on this score, and return to consider how it is that 
the love of God saves those who have sinned. 

§ IV. The love of God operates to salvation only 
through obedience. — It is riot enough to believe and 
say that God loves the human race; for though this 
proposition be true, it is equally true that his love it- 
self is regulated in it operations by laws of divine 
wisdom. To state that God so loved the world as to 
give his only begotten Son for its redemption, is one 



34? TSE NEW LiGHTr 

thing; but how he would make that eiScIent, i& air-- 
other. The fact and the mode of this love are &et 
forth in the following passage: — -"God so loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in him should not perish but have 
everlasting life." o NoWy either faith is necessary 
to everlasting life, or it is not. If it be, the above 
passage appears plain and explicable: if not, then it 
admits as true what it does not say, but which was 
as proper to be said as the thing affirmed. We have 
a vast variety of similar expression, all limiting eter- 
nal life to the believer and the obedient: but if Uni- 
yersalism be true, the unbeliever and disobedient 
should somewhere have been mentioned as sure can- 
didates for immortality. But while, by the author- 
ity of God, sinners are incessantly commanded to be- 
lieve, to repent, to obey the gospel and be conver- 
ted — while not a promise either of pardon or immor- 
tality is made to such as continue in disobedience, I 
would ask all cautious and prudent men if it is not 
most venturesome and reckless to promise the diso- 
bedient as great and as certain a salvation as that 
which is promised to the godly? Since the world 
began the readiest way to confirm men in rebellion 
against God, has been to promise thern, while in sin^ 
that they shall have life though they continue reb- 
els. Ezekiel, the true prophet of the Lord, was 
commissioned to reprove the false prophets who had 
thus been dealing out the promise of life. His words, 
are remarkable, and apply with singular force and 
ixiost fittingly to Universalist clergymen — "Ye have 
Kiade the heart of the righteous sad, whom I havo 
a John iii. 16* 



OK UNIVERALISM. 343 

not made sad, and strengthened the hands of the 
wicked that he should not return from his wicked 
way, BY PROMISING HIM life/' b The faithful man 
who believes and obeys always has the preemi- 
nence. The Lord says Ae shall be saved, but never 
says a word of that import about the rebel. The 
fair inference is, that it is not the mind of the Lord 
that life should be promised to the wicked while he 
is wicked and though he should live and die in wick- 
edness/ The whole strain of Universalist preaching 
is the daily doing of this very thing: hence sinners 
return not from their wicked way and are confirmed 
in sin. Hence, too, you never see Universalists 
obeying the gospel: their religion consists in ever- 
lasting talk^ cGntention, strife^ and attempts at recon- 
ciling the scriptures to their crude notions* They 
call their talk argument'^ but it is rant and sophisty, 
such folly and dull conceptions as a man of com- 
mon sense and common honesty might well be 
ashamed of. 

§ V, The justice of God operates to salvation only 
through obedience*' — That the justice of God should 
concur in delivering us from our sins, is a grand and 
lofty conception of the Prophets and Apostles: and 
that it does thus concur to the eternal salvation of 
him that obeys, appears from the following places of 
Scripture: — "He was wounded for our transgressions, 
he was bruised for our iniquties: the chastisement 
of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we 
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; 
we have turned every one to his own way; and the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.^' o 
bEzek. xiii. 22. c IsaL liiL 5, 6. 



344 THE NEW LIGHT, 

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, to declare his right- 
eousness for the remission of sins that are past 
through the forbearance of God; to declare at this 
time his righteousness; that be might be just and 
the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." d - 

From these and many expressions of a similar 
character, it appears 1, That God could not be 
just in saving men without the intervention of a 
suffering Savior. But why should a Savior suffer if 
all men must sulBTer what they deserve? If we do 
not deserve to suffer, Christ deserved for himself ajl 
he suffered: if we deserve to sufTer, he did not^ 
which is true. But if we suffer all we deserve, and 
he suffered, too, there is too much suffering in refer- 
ence to salvation; there is an excess^ and this excess 
must be charged to the administration of God as 
unjust because unnecessary! Christ suffered either 
on account of his own sins, or ours: but he himself 
never sinned: therefore he suffered for our sins; and 
if he did, when we are pardoned we do not suffer to 
the full amount of our crimes. It is by his stripes 
we are healed, and not by the stripes which justice 
lays upon us. But if we are healed by his stripes^ 
and yet suffer all we deserve, no one can tell how 
such healing is effected, or of what use the stripes of 
Christ can be to us. Will some Universalist conde- 
scend to tell us? 

But from the above passages we learn, 2, That 
the propitiation of Christ shelters us from destruc- 
tion only as paith apprehends the purport of his 
blood, and the believer submits to the divine gov- 
d Rom. iii. 2i, 26. 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 345 

eminent. The intelligent reader has no doubt ob- 
served how constantly the sacred writers urge the 
necessity of faith and rebuke the want of it. Why 
is this? Is it because faith and obedience will ef- 
fect a present salvation and have nothing to do with 
the future? Is it all that faith can do to save our 
souls in this world? and has it no bearing tipon our 
eternal destiny? Will the righteous have no reward 
in the world to come for the good deeds performed 
here? and will such as die in their sins be as cer- 
tain of immortality and eternal life as those who 
were pardoned and continued patiently in well-do- 
ing? Reader, if God can be Justin pardoning the 
believer in his Son, would it not be unjust in him to 
pardon the unbeliever? It is therefore just as im- 
possible for God to save, hereafter, or here, the un- 
believer, as it is for him to lie. "He will by no 
means clear the impenitent." 

§ VI. Obedience in this world necessary to secure 
immortality and eternal life in the next. — That this 
most wholesome and cardinal truth should be denied 
by any who profess to believe the Bible, is truly as- 
tonishing. So recklefSs an adventure was left to the 
noisy and ill-at-ease genius of modern Universalism; 
and Universalists alone are equal to it. By disre- 
garding or disbelieving one half the Scriptures, and 
perverting the other, they have succeeded in making 
out a limping and ill-clad army of arguments, which 
they have aimed to quarter upon the common sense 
and vulgar prejudices of mankind: every soldier is 
armed with a pop-gun, and the whole troop sallies 
forth to conquer mankind with wind. In opposi* 



346 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



tion to the system we will adduce a few Scriptures. 
In his Epistle to the Romans Paul says, "And think- 
est thou this, O man, that judgest them who do such 
things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape 
the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the rich- 
es of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffer- 
ing, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth 
thee to repentance? but after thy hardness and im- 
penitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath 
against the day of wrath and revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God who will render to every 
man according to his deeds— to them who, by pa- 
tient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and 
honor and immortality, eternal life: but to them 
that are contentious and do not obey the truth but 
obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribu- 
lation and anguish upon every soul of man that do- 
eth evil/' e—Oa this passage the following points 
are conspicuous: 

1, The day in which the apostle lived was not 
the day of wrath, the day of judgment, nor had the 
revelation of the righteous judgment of God been 
made at that time. In the whole passage the apos- 
tle refers to the judgment as future. Now it is cer- 
tain that God had, long before Paul's day, revealed 
his displeasure against sin in innumerable instances; 
and yet "the revelation of his righteous judgment'' 
upon sinners, that is, the act of the judgment had 
not then come. The Apostle believed the judgment 
was coming, and that it would be a day of wrath, 
indignation, and tribulation. 

.2. The foregoing is admitted by all parties; but 
e Rom. ii. 4—9. 



ON 'UNIVERSAI>ISM. 347 

Universalists assume that Paul here alludes to the 
destruction of Jerusalem as "the revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God.^' We will examine 
this subject. Paul wrote to the Gentiles at Rome 
more than a thousand miles from Jerusalem; and 
these, of course, could feel little or no interest, could 
be sensible of no danger, in any thing that might 
happen in Judea, Why should the Romans be 
alarmed at the destruction of Jerusalem? Again; 
the righteous, in the day when God will render to ev- 
ery man according to his deeds, are promised ''glory, 
honor, and immortality:" but there were no right- 
eous at the destruction of Jerusalem, there were 
none there but "vessels of wrath fitted to destruc- 
tion;" and the christians who made their escape^ 
enioyed no more immortality then than they had en- 
joyed from the first day of their faith in Christ. 

3. The day here predicted, which is termed the 
day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of 
God, is further described as a day when 'Hhe secret 
things of men" shall be judged. The time had 
not Come when Paul wrote; yet the gospel day had 
come. In the gospel day, therefore, the secret 
things of men are not judged : nor were they brought 
to light orjudged at the sacking of Jerusalem by 
Titus any more than at its sacking by Nebuchadnez- 
zar or Antiochus Epiphanes. The gospel dispensa- 
tion is not the time of bringing secret things to lights 
and the time for punishing their perpetrators. Men 
can keep their secret plans of iniquity to themselves 
now, as easily as any age since the foundation of the 
world; and ten thousand plans of concealed mis.- 



348 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



chief are daily going on, upon which live their in- 
fanjous projectors in defiance of human laws, and 
without any adequate punishment, from the rebukes 
of conscience. You will permit to me assert and 
prove, that secret iniquities cannot be judged with- 
out bringing them to light. Such is the testimony 
of scripture— "God shall bring every work into 
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be 
good, or whether it be evil."/ Of certain men 
Paul said, «It is a shame to speak of those things 
•which are done of them in secret."^ The intelli- 
gent reader knows well how constantly throughout 
the whole Bible the publication and exposure of 
all secret sins, are referred to a day of judgment. 
The question, then, is, has that day come? If it has, 
it came long before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
It has not, however, come; for "the secret things of 
men" still go unpunished, for they are not and can- 
not now be known under the gospel any more or 
better than in the preceding age. The fall of Je- 
rusalem did no more towards the judgment of "se- 
cret things," than did the fall of Babylon or Nine- 
veh hundreds of years before; and the gospel dis- 
pensation was never designed to reach and punish 
the iniquitous secrecy of out-lawed and incorrigible 
rascals:— another day will bring them to their sen- 
ses, to their feelings and to an "everlasting destruc- 
tion." " 

4. Glory, honor, and immortality, are promised, 

in this passage, to those who seek for them, with 

eternal life; but none of these were any more or 

fully enjoyed while the seekers lived, after the de- 

f Eccl. lii. 14. g Eph. v. 12. 



ON UNIVERSALIS^, 349 

struction of Jerusalem, than before. Now, it is ev- 
ident, that to these seekers after glory, &c. the 
promise of eternal life is made because they are seek* 
ers^ and before they possess the blessing — they are 
promised at one time what they shall have at an- 
other. The time of the promise made, is under the 
gospel; the time of receiving eternal life, is "'the 
day when God shall judge the secrets of men." If, 
then, Universalism be true, men are seeking for glo- 
ry, honor, and immortality, and are receiving eter- 
nal life, while they are seeking! They are just like 
the lady of whom it is recorded that she searched 
high find low through her house for her thimble 
which was all the time on her finger. And this is 
the luminous philosophy of Universalism — It says 
to all men, the thimble is on your fingers, therefore, 
be sure to seek carefully for it! You already have 
glory, honor, immortality, and even eternal life, and 
never can lose them by any supposable contingen- 
cy^ therefore, seek for them constantly and you 
shall find them — but you shall find them whether 
you seek or not! If you will not take hold of them 
they will take hold of you. 

5. But, according to this text, the rendition of 
eternal life is to be "in the day" when the secret 
things of men are to be judged or brought to light, 
and consequently not during the mediatorial reign 
or gospel dispensation. All we enjoy under the gos- 
pel is "the glorious hope" of incorruption, with the 
good Spirit from God as " an earnest of the inheri- 
tance." By the promises we "partake of the di- 
vine nature," the mere germ or assurance that the 



350 THE NEW LIGHT. 

whole shall be in due time given, "if we continue in 
the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moyed 
away from the hope of the gospel." A Such per- 
persons already have eternal life, therefore, in prom- 
ise only, not in fact; and so our Lord and his apos- 
tles are to be understood. The apostles must ex- 
plam Jesus, not Jesus the apostles. 

6. But at the same great day when the right- 
eous shall be put in possession of eternal life, God 
'■■mil render'' to such as had not obeyed the truth 
but had obeyed unrighteousness, "indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish." The words can- 
not be tortured to express any other sentiment. 
But we are told that now, under the gospel dispen- 
sation which Universalists regard as the day of judg- 
ment, "every soul of man that doeth evil" feets 
"indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish!" 
Every man gets just what he deserves. 1 wonder if 
these things can be so. I am confident that many 
escape for the present; for Paul tells us in this text 
that there were some who, unmindful of the divine 
goodness, were treasuring up unto themselves wrath 
against the day of wrath and revelation of the 
righteous judgment of God. What does it mean to 
treasure up wrath? Does it mean that the treasu- 
rer receives his due every day? No, for that, accor- 
ding to the books of Universalism, would be to pav 
It out! He could never treasure up wrath in 
this way. The expression evidently means that the 
disobedient are gathering together causes of pun- 
ishment, which, in « the day of wrath," will all be 
revealed, and they shall receive a fuU and eternal 
hCol,i.23. 



ON UNI VERS ALISM. 351 

retribution, if not, will some shrewd Universalist 
tell us what is the nneaning of treasuring up wrath 
against the day of wrath? 

But still we hear the objection which has been a 
thousand times refuted, ^^every soul of man" expe- 
riences for his sin all the ^indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish^' which he deserves, in this 
life. But we say again that this is utterly false, for 
another reason. Paul speaks of some whose minds 
were 'darkened; who were alienated from the life of 
God by ignorance; and '^ who, being past feeling, 
have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to 
work all uncleanness with greediness." i Now, 
these men were past feeling either physically or 
morally. Not physically, for they were living and 
revelling. They were then past feeling morally, 
they had "pleasure in unrighteousness;" they took 
pleasure in them that enjoyed such pleasures; they 
had bid adieu to remorse, compunction, and all the 
pleadings and reproofs of conscience; they could 
§in,ina word, without shame* The question then 
is. If conscience did not disturb them — if they had 
no compunction, no remorse, no fears ,of wrath 
present or future, — if they were, as Paul declares 
fhem to have been, past feeling in this sense, — - 
what was their reward ? did they feel tribulation and 
anguish? were they punished as much as they de- 
served when they could not feel? A sense of guilt 
and shame was not their punishment. In what, 
then, did their punishment consist? Did they phys- 
ically suffer by bruises received from each other, or 
by diseases engendered by their vices? They had 
i Eph. iv. 18, 19. 



^^2 THE NEW LIGHT. 



pleasure in unrighteousness." Was pleasure their 
punishment; the wrath, the indignation, the trlbula- 
tion, the anguish, what were these ? Were these the 
pleasures of a sinful life? The persons here descri- 
bed were not at the time suffering, but rejoicing, 
revelling, rioting in all the fiendish luxury of lech- 
ery and vice. This was "the pleasure of sin," and 
notthe punishment of it. The truth is, those great 
sinners were treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath and not suffering the just punishment of sin. 
l.et Universalists say what they may, many men do 
take pleasure in iniquity, and have, in fact, pleasure 
in httle else. Though there is a certain class of in- 
fidels mentioned in the book of Job who travail 
with pam all their days,/?; this cannot be said as a 
universal thing, for we have seen above that there 
are myriads of the most wicked who rejoice to do 
evil. "They are notin trouble as other men; nei- 
ther are they plagued like other men: therefore 
pnde compasseth them about as a chain; violence 
covere^th them as a garment. Their eyes stand out 
with fatness; they have more than heart could 
wish." I David was at a loss to understand why 
this should be so, and why the people of God should 
frequently suffer more than the worst men; and his 
every doubt was solved by a visit to the divine Ora- 
cles. "When I thought to know this, it was too pain- 
ful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God- 
then I understood their end:" then the Psalmist be- 
held "the slippery places" on which they stood for 
a season, and the pit of ^destruction' all filled with 
Herrors; into which they were soon to be plunged! 
k Job XV. 20. 1 Ps. Ixxiii. 5_8. 



ON rNlVERALISM. 353 

Thus we have, I think, fully and clearly estab- 
lished the truth that our eternal destiny is to be 
tixed according to the character we form in this 
life. God, it is said, -'will render eternal life ^' to 
them who patiently continue in well-doing; and 
at the same time '"indignation and wrath, tribula- 
tion and anguish, upon every soul of man that do- 
eth evil,^' or who shall be found to have ended his 
earthly career a rebel- against the divine govern- 
ment. But wicked men wish to dictate terms to the 
Almightly^ they would alter the plan of redemp- 
tion as published by him, or make another; they 
desire to be gods for themselves and to be answer- 
able to no tribunal but that of their own depraved 
minds and feelings; they will not respect his au- 
thority, and must utterly perish in their own corrup- 
tions.^' They who are infidels ah-eady, but wish 
something to quiet their consciences; or those who 
are backsliding christians, and would stifle their 
convictions of duty — are fish for the Universalian 
hook. ''O my soul, come not thou into their secret! 
(Into their assemblv. mine lionor, be not thou 
anited!" 

23 



CHAPTER XXVf. 
'W. Obedience further considebj^x?., 

.further remarks on Obedience-^Argument from Heb. ix» 27, ^§---' 
From Heb. v. 7—9. — From Rev. ii. tO. — From vi, !7 — 19— Par 
aliel Passages summoned.— General Observations— Consliasion-. 
by an Analysis of John v. 19 — 39', 

The preceding remarks on pardon will suffice {& 
set that subject in its proper light: one additional 
illustration may be appended as the §ubstance of 
all that has been said* '^ There was a certain cred- 
itor," said our Lord in one of his parables, ^'who 
had two debtors: the one owed him five hundred 
pence, and the other, fiftj* And vrhen they had 
nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both« 
Tell me, therefore, which of them will love hin> 
most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that 
he to whom he forgave most. And'' Jesus " said, 
Thou hast rightly judged.'^ a From this incident 
our Lord derives a conclusion which is so simple^ 
and which recommends itself so clearly to the com- 
mon sense and experience of mankind, that it is 
absolutely irresistible, namely, that "to whom little 
is forgiven, the same loveth little/' By parity of 
reason, to whom much is forgiven, the same loveth 
much; and to whom nothing is forgiven, the same 
loveth none. Now, upon the principles of Univer- 
salism there is no such thing as forgiveness, and 
hence, according to that system, there can be no 
love towards God* It is utterly impossible to love 
God, because he Jcrgives^ if w@ must first suffer al! we 
a Luke vii, 41, 42. 



ON U?aVERSALISM, 355 

deserve^ This has new been proved beyond cavil 
both bj Scripture and human experience. — We re- 
turn to the subject of obedience. 

§ VII. The judgment is after deaths and will pro- 
ceed according to the character formed while living. — In 
proof of this position I have selected the following 
four passages:— 

(a) *'And as it is appointed unto men once to dic^ 
but after this the judgment so Christ was once of- 
fered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that 
look for him shall he appear, the second time, with- 
out sin, unto salvation," b 

(b) '^A Priest * * * who, in the days of his flesh, 
when he had offered up prayers and supplications 
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able 
to save him from death, and was heard in that he 
feared: though he were a Son, yet he learned obe- 
dience by the things which he suffered; and being 
made perfect, he became the author of eternal sal- 
vation unto ALL TIIEM THAT OBEY HIM." C 

(c) "Fear none of those things which thou shalt 
suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into 
prison that ye may be tried — and ye shall have trib- 
ulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and 

1 WILL GIVE THEE A CROWN OF LIFE." d 

(d) '^Charge thern that are rich in this world that 
they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain 
riches but in the living God who giveth us richly 
all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they 
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing 
to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a 

b Heb, ix. 27, 28. e Heb. v. 7-9. d Rev. ii. 10. 



356 THE NEW LIGHT. 

good foundation against the time to ^ome, that 

THEY MAY LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE," 6 

Upon the passage marked (a) in the above list, 
we notice the following points: 1, Men are appoin- 
ted to die because they have sinned, or rather be- 
cause the race of man sinned in the first man. 2, 
After death judgment is appointed for them that 
die. Those who die are not made judges, as Uni- 
versalism teaches, but are /o be judged after death. 
But 3, In order to effect the salvation of his people, 
the Lqrd Jesus w^as once offered to bear the sins of 
those who must die. As they are appointed to die 
once^ he was appointed to die once for them. As 
they cannot die often^ only once, which we call nat- 
ural death; it was not necessary ''that he should of- 
fer himself often as the high priest entereth into the 
holy-place every year with blood of others — for then 
he must often have suffered since the foundation of 
the world: but now once in the end of the age, he 
hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
himself." jT The analogy, then, is this; As men die 
once, Jesiis died once for them; the g^ and the so 
relating to the one death of me^i and the one offer- 
ing of Jesus, and not to the death of highpriests, as 
Universalism affirms. 

4, In the fourth place, it is said that Christ "bore 
the sins of many," that is, that he sustained the pun- 
ishment legally due to them, in order that they all 
might be saved or escape 'Hhe righteous judgment of 
God" against sin. Finally, it is taught in the 5th 
and last place, that the gracious Savior will appear 
a second time for the salvation of all them that 
e ITim.vi. 17—19. f Heb. ix.25,26. 



0?r UxMVERSALISM. 357 

look for him. To look for the Redeemer, is to ap- 
prove of his laws, to obey his will, and to please 
him by a holy life and behavior. These are but 
other terms for obedience. To say that all men 
look for him in the sense of this passage, is to ut- 
ter the most rediculous absurdities. — Such, then, is 
a fair analysis of the passage: it has not within it 
one element of Universalism^ — the whole is posi- 
tively and directly against it. 

But the passage is Scripture and it behooves Uni- 
versalists to do something with it; they must put it 
aside by an interpretation which makes it mean pre- 
cisely contrary to what it says. Thus they com- 
mence and go through. The 'men^ that die are the 
highpriests under the Law; and the death of the 
highpriest was his going into the holy of holies once 
a year, a thing that resembles death in no one 
particular, but which was in fact the figure of 
Christ's ascension! Well, after the priest dies, he 
comes, not to be judged, but to the the judgment- 
seat, being himself the judge; he comes out of the 
holy of holies and blesses congregated Israel! It is 
sickening and disgusting to behold such miserable 
tricks and evasions of men who are determined nei- 
ther to believe nor obey the truth! I cannot, how- 
ever, give further space to the refutation of this 
most utterly contemptible exposition: for it carries 
its own condemnation upon its low and receding 
forehead. 

On the passage marked (b) in the foregoing list, we 
remark, that it plainly and unequivocally asserts 
elernal salvation to all who are obedient to the reli' 



358 THE NEW LIGHT. 

gion of Jesus Christ. Eternal salvation is a phrase 
which all understand to mean in^^mortality and eter- 
nal life. It is certain that even saints do not 
possess eternal salvation in this life ; and yet this 
must be the sense of the passage if Universalem be 
true, that is, eternal life must be confined to this 
world, or to men in this life. If they admit that 
eternal salvation belongs to the next world, Univer* 
salists would be forced to allow that this passage 
connects obedience with it in such a way that the 
disobedient who die in their sins can have no hope 
of it. Hence, eternal solvation, with them, means 
no more AaE^ the enjoyment of a good conscience 
in this life, no more than the christian state and 
character. To prove this, they refer to and empha- 
sise the sayings of €>ur Lord, "He that heareth my 
word and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
lasting life," g* and, "this is life eternal, that they 
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Chri&t 
whom thou hastse^t.^A 

But touching the first passage, "He that heareth 
mj word,'' &c. ii may suffice to remark, that our 
aim must be to harmonise all the divine witnesses^ 
not to make them contradict each other. The great 
truth to be proved is that God has given to us eter- 
nal life, and that this life is in his Son; and the 
manner in which this gyeat gift is conferred is fully 
described by the apostles who were commissioned 
to unfold this very thing. The apostles, then, must 
be regarded as the expounders of Jesus, not Jesus 
of the apostles; and whein we have the doctrine of 
the apostles, we have the mind of Jesus asid the 
g John V. 24. h John xvii. 3. 



«9?hoiie ef Christianity, Every parable or discourse 
'of our Lord, must be explained in this way. Ac- 
cording to this rule, when Jesus says, "He that hear- 
€th my word and believeth on him that sent me, hatk 
everlasting life," bis meaning is, that the believer is 
justified^ that h«is faith has been accounted to him 
for righteousness, ©r that, having tfce divine nature 
imparted to him by promise, death as to him ds in ef- 
fect obliterated, and he is adjudged to eternal life in 
the divine economy, S^ch a person is passed from 
death to life; but bis final possession of that bless- 
ing depends nevertheless on a continued and finish- 
ed fidelity. In this sense every believer has eternal 
life — not in an absolute sense. But, if Universa- 
lism be true, it belongs to every man absolutely, 
which is at once to make nonsense of the passage 
which asserts it only of believers* Paul explains 
the whole matter by saying of christians, "Ye are 
deadf and your life is hid with Christ in God. When 
•Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with him in glory." e As saints, we now 
have the earnest or foretaste of the purchased inheri- 
lance; but the full harvest of glory is to be reaped 
another day. In this sense, and in this sense only, 
believers are said to have eternal life. And so we 
say of the heir 50 long as he •is a minor, he possesses 
this, or that, or the other piece of valuable proper- 
ty, while at the same time he cannot lay his hand 
on any more than his father may give him for pres- 
ent uses. Just so, our Heavenly Father gives us 
jiow, by way of earnest, what he knows will serve 
^r the present world: but when our glorious Re- 
i CoL iii. 3c 4. 



■^^ THE SEW LIGHT. 

deemer shall appear, and wg shall be made like hira, 
"exceeding abundantlj above all that wc have pow- 
er to ask or think," will be conferred upon us,eter- 

NAl LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. Sllch is thc plain Stale 

of the case, and Universalism with all its froth and 
Doise cannot gainsay it. 

_ The other passage, (John xvii. 3,) is of like easy 
interpretation. It is life eternal to know, or rather, 
to acknowledge God, and Jesus Christ his Apostle. 
This none will dispute. Eternal life is affirmed, a 
general rule is given according to which it will be 
bestowed, but not a word is uttered of promise cf 
We to such as never acknowledge God and his Son. 
The place is decidedly against Universalism which 
teaches that even such as die in sin will be made to 
know him in the resurrection-for the resurrection, 
with these dreamers, is con%'erted into a purgatory 
by which all sinners otherwise incurable, will be 
washed, or physicked, or scoured, deterged, and so 
made over, that not a vestige of former impurity 
will remain. This is a new invention never named 
in the Bible, a new discovery of which the Prophets 
and apostles have not spoken a word in all their com- 
munications to mankind ! What lynx-eyed geniuses 
our Universalists must be, to find purgatory in the 
resurrection. We had thought that the blood of 
Christ was shed for the remission of sins and the pu- 
rification of the conscience. We had thought that 
there was "none other name given under heaven and 
among men" by which to be saved, other than that 
of Jesus Christ; but Universalists are publishing 
anotherraeans of purifying the conscience, tiiat af 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 361 

amending the body, or rather making another; thej 
are proclaiming another name in and by which men 
may be saved from guilt, namely, the resurrection! 
God's work upon a man's dead body, is henceforth 
both Savior and salvation; and so Jesus at last will 
not say, as we had been taught, "Well done, good 
and faithful servant," but, "Well done me! see what 
i have done in purifying these sinners who would 
not be purified by my blood!" — But I turn away 
from this utterly rotten unphilosophical scheme. It 
is neither mentioned nor implied in the places now 
examined. Christ is the author of eternal salvation to 
sinners, but to such sinners only as "obey him." 
So says Paul; and he who says otherwise "is proud, 
knowing nothing but doting about questions and 
strifes of words." ^' 

I proceed to offer a few remarks on the passage 
marked (c) in the foregoing catalogue, "Be thou 
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
life." Some Universalists of eminence as debaters, 
assume that the crown of righteousness mentioned 
by Paul (3 Tim. iv. 8,) was some peculiar earthly 
honor bestowed upon him for his zeal and labors. "^ 
But when we reflect, that Paul, in that place, was 
uttering his last words, had kept the faith, finished 
his course, and was ready to be offered, we are utter- 
ly unable to find when, where, or how he obtained 
the "crown of righteousness'^ in this world. Be- 
sides, he refers to the crown as at some distance in 

* Thia position I learn was taken by E. M. Pingree in a De- 
bate held by him and Elder Arthur Crihfield at New Wash- 
ington la. Of course he failed to maintain so wild and foolish a 
theory. 

k I Tim. vi, 4. 



362 - THE NEW MGHT. \ 

the future — ^^which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 
shall give me at that day," namely, the day of the 
"appearing and kingdom" of Jesus Christ. Paul, 
then, anticipated the crown after a finished course, 
after a kept faith, and after a good fight finished. 
And he informs us that he is not peculiar in this; 
for the crown will not be given to him only, "but 
to all them also that love the appearing'' of the 
oJudge. It would therefore be vain and impious to 
expect such a crown in this life, or before our course 
on the earth is finished. But this evasion is the 
best Universalists can do with the passage; but the 
attempt to pervert it so that it may not stand in the 
way of their theory, or that it may teach that there 
is no connection between what we are here and 
what we shall be hereafter, betrays its own weak- 
ness and the weakness of the cause defended. The 
truth is, the faith must be kept, the race run, the 
fight won, and the course finished, if we would en- 
joy the crown of life and righteousness. So Pau! 
affirms, and he is a blasphemer who teaches other- 
wise. 

Directly confirmative of the foregoing pure truth 
is another text from this same Apostle. / He says 
to all his brethren, in allusion to the races of the 
Greeks in their Stadium: '-So run that ye may ob- 
tain. And every man that striveth for the mastery 
is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to ob- 
tain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.'' 
But did we suppose some philosopher among those 
Greeks to tell them while engaged in those races, 
^^You will obtain the crown whether you run or not, 
1 ! Cor. ix. 24. 



ON CNIVERSALIS3I. 363 

temperance and agility have nothing to do in secu- 
ring it," &c. the young Greeks would have led him 
out of the Stadium as a fool and a madman. And 
hovr much worse were such a philosopher than a 
Universalist clergyman who, under the title of Rex. 
Mr. A. or Rex. Mr. B., can stand up before the 
world and say that whatever may be the characters 
of men during life, they shall all, irrespective of ho- 
liness or virtue in this life, be made holy and im- 
mortal? That the greatest sinner living and dying 
in vice and murder, shall as surely obtain eternal 
life in heaven, as Paul, Peter, Job, David, Daniel, 
Noah, Abel, is the plain and naked doctrine of Uni- 
versalists. The above passages seem at an infinite 
remove, however, from teaching such abominable 
and most monstrous absurdities. But let Christians 
run to obtain the incorruptible crown, and they shall 
not be disappointed when the lazy and sin-loving 
world "shall awake to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt." And let faithful ministers be encouraged 
to do their work well while they may, for an apos- 
tle says to them — "And when the Chief Shepherd 
shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that 
fadeth not av/ay." m 

But respecting the passage "Be thou faithful unto 
deaths and I will give thee a crown of life," it may 
suffice to remark, that the whole compass of life 
from the time that fidelity is commenced, or until 
death, is claimed by the Lord to be spent in his 
service, if the claimant would have a crown of life, 
or be made immortal in the age to come. This is 
the general principle of the gospel. It is every- 

m 1 Pet. V. 4. 



364 THE NEW LIGHT. 

where asserted, and nowhere forbidden or contradic- 
ted. Now there is a standing provision which has 
existed in all dispensations since the world began, 
for the return of rebels to the divine government. 
This provision has been always understood, that if 
the rebel shall relent and submit to the divine au- 
thority, or, in other words, if he shall change his 
character, he may escape the denunciations pro- 
nounced upon rebels, and the rebellion shall be for- 
given. It follows hence, that although there are 
very many threatnings and curses pronounced against 
offenders, it is always with this understanding, that 
if the sinner turn, he shall escape the just sentence 
uttered. ''The wicked shall not be unpunished," n 
is always true; but it is equally true, that "if the 
wicked shall turn from all his sins that he hath com- 
mitted, and keep all my statutes, and do that which 
is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not 
die» And all his transgressions that he hath com- 
mitted, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his 
righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have 
I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? 
saith the Lord God, and not that he should return 
from his ways and live?" o But Universalism knows 
of no such provision, and thinks it absurd that any 
sinner should escape any part of a just punishment 
by repentance or change of character. But the 
provision is impartial and merciful; for he that 
turns, though a great sinner, does no injury to him 
that turns not, though of less enormous character as 
a sinner: for the provision is made for all, and did 
all turn, they would live. If none turn, they will 
nProv. xi.2l. o Ezek. xviii. 21— 22. 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 365 

all die. I take upon me to say, that the mercy of 
God in pardon can be dispensed upon no other 
principles. Universalists, however complain, that 
an old offender may relent and live, while a young 
one is exposed to hell after death! Very true; but 
they are both exposed, and both provided for, and 
God as much wills the return of the one as of the 
other. His ways are equal. Let both do his com- 
mands, and both shall have cause of rejoicing. 

'*Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee 
a crown of life," is a passage which seems utterly 
incapable of being tv/isted and perverted by Uni- 
versalist sophistry: for, 1, fidelity is to reach into 
death itself, which circumstance places the crown 
of life beyond this world, or in another state of be- 
ing, and connects the crown there with faithfulness 
here, which Universalists deny; and 2, any private 
meaning to the terms death and fidelity would ren- 
der the whole place ridiculous. For instance, if the 
death here mentioned, is a moral death, or a state 
of sinning, it would make nonsense— for w^ho can be 
faithful in such a way? ''Be faithful till you are un- 
faithful," would be a singular command, and such 
a duty as we might expect to find in Universalism! 
Or, if the term death here, means death to sin, or a 
state of holiness, the case is no better; for this 
would make the passage mean thus, Be faithful un- 
to faithfulness, and I will give the a crown of life — 
which by the way would defeat Universalism, as it 
connects fidelity with the crown of life; but there 
is no such connection, if the system be true. What, 
then, does the passage teach? Simply, that holi- 



Job THE NEW LIGHT, 

ness here and iinmortalitj hereafter are so connec- 
ted, that the latter cannot be enjoyed without the 
practice of the former. So teach the Scriptures 
everywhere; and he who teaches otherwise is a mis- 
erable and blind sophist, a brazen-faced heretic and 
false prophet. 

I proceed to remark on the passage marked (d), 
that it is in perfect harmony with all the foregoing. 
Rich men are charged not to be highminded, but to 
be humble; not to trust in uncertain riches; to do 
good; to be rich in good works; to be ready to dis- 
tribute their surplus wealth to those in need; to be 
willing to communicate of their substance to pious 
and religious purposes; to lay up thus for themselves 
a good foundation against the time to come in order 
to their laying hold on eternal life. Such is the 
clear import of the passage, and thus it teaches 
without doubt the necesary connection between ho- 
liness of heart and life here, with immortality in 
•^ the time to come," or hereafter. But Universa- 
lism makes utter nonsense of the whole passage; for, 
according to it, ^'the time to come " means some pe- 
riod within the natural lives of those rich men, per- 
haps the destruction of Jerusalism; and the laying 
hold on eternal life must mean that those wealthy 
disciples had already so laid hold — so that, 'Hhat 
they may lay hold^^"^ has no meaning at all, or one 
altogether contrary to the one plainly and une- 
quivocally asserted. Universalism teaches that all 
believers have actually laid hold on eternal life, and 
that whether unbelievers change their characters in 
this life or not, they shall also lay hold upon it. 



ON UNI¥EKSALISM. 367 

The doctrine is therefore utterly deceitml and un» 
worthy of the lips of the God of truth and candon 

Abner Kneland, formerly the head of Universa- 
lism in this country, who, following out the sure ten- 
dency of Universalism, turned atheist, but who is 
now I believe, dead and gone to the judgment of 
God, felt a difficulty when he came to translate this 
passage — (for he made a translation to favor Univer- 
salism as much as possible)— and the last clause runs 
thus, ''that they may lay hold on the true Ufel^'* 
Shameful as this was, he could do no better. He 
knew himself to be dishonest and disingenuous in 
making the phrase '^/rwe life^^ translate "/£5 aiooniou 
zooes^'^^ ETERNAL LIFE. Hc wished to confine ''the 
time to come'' within some period that would soon 
terminate, and then the "true life" would be that 
which those who escaped some imagined catastro- 
phe should possess. It was necessary for those rich 
men to be holy, that the Gentiles might escape the 
destruction of the Jezos-^ that Ephesus, Rome, or 
Crete, might be j^afe when Jerusalem fell! What a 
miserable shift is this! But it is the best Universa- 
lists can do with the passage. 

But I am admonished to bring my remarks to a 
close. "But now, being made free from sin, and be- 
come servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holi- 
ness, and THE END everlasting life." So teaches 
Paul. Is there, then, no connection between holi- 
ness and its end, which is everlasting life? — ''If any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.'' 
— "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye 
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body. 



368 THE NEW LICSHT. 

ye shall live/^ — "For as many as are led by the Spir- 
it of God, they are the sons of God.'^ — "And if chil- 
dren, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christy IF so bk that we suffer with him, that 
WE MAY BE GLORIFIED TOGETHER." Several impor- 
tant points are here particularized, and it may be 
well to recapitulate them. 

1 — Pardon is necessary to free us from sin: this 
liberation is essential to fruitfulness in holiness; and 
the practice of holiness terminates in everlasting 
life, a thing nowhere asserted of them who live and 
die in sin, as Universalists teach. 

2 — Christ owns no man as a member of his Body 
who does not possess his Spirit; that is, the Holy Spir- 
it, whose influences lead to holiness of heart and 
life. A man may, indeed, be nominally attached to 
the church; but if he is wanting in the great point 
of being led by the Spirit, he has no promise of eter- 
nal life. 

3 — Men who continue to walk after the flesh 
while they live, shall die; and this is therefore plain- 
ly neither physical death — for all, good and bad, are 
subject to that; nor moral death, for that is it under 
which all sinners are placed already, and are dead 
while sinning: but here there is something called 
death which falls upon the incorrigible after their 
course of transgression is ended: it is therefore "a 
SECOND DEATH," uot induccd by the disobedience 
of the first man, but by those sins of their own which 
sinners would not, in life, allow to be pardoned. 
There is no proposition clearer than this. 

4 — Eternal life is promised to Christians if they 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 369 

will mortify the deeds of the body; by which is 
meant, not a mortification during a short tiiiie mere- 
ly, but a denial and mortification of the deeds of 
the body during its whole history from the time of 
being made fvee from sin, not a partial, but a com- 
plete mortification. The prom/ise of eternal life is 
made to virtues completed as to duration, not to vir- 
tues merely incepted or begun. It is one thing to be- 
gin, but quite another to continue "faithful until 
death." 

5 — All such as God acknowledges as children, 
being forgiven, possess his Spirit, are godly; that is, 
are like him. Those, therefore, "are none of his,'^ 
who refuse to be led by his Spirit: they are foreign- 
ers, or at best " bastardsj'^ as Paul terms them. N6w, 
it is certain that God corrects and even scourges his 
children; but he never scourges nnd punishes men to 
make them his children. To wiiip children before 
they are born, or to bring them to their birth, is one 
of the wild conceptions of Universalism, and no 
part of the wisdoni that cometh from above. 

6— All who ai*e children by faith, are heirs to the 
estate of glory which the Fafher has given to the 
Son. But they cannot claim this divine patrimony 
merely because they are sons at the time of faith 
and first obedience, though at that time their title is 
clear: but this title must be kept clear; and this 
feature of the subject is plainly marked by the ex- 
pressions "(f .90 be that zve svffer with himJ^^ if we 
continue to maintain the station and dignity of chil- 
dren, if we continue faithful to him while vve live, 
that zve may be glorified tos^ether:^^ for it is absurd to 
a4 



370 THE NEW LIGHT. 

think of wearing the crown without bearing the 
cross. This place finds its parallel in the following: 
^«If a man strive for masteries, yet he is not crown- 
ed unless he strive lawfully. The husbandman who 
laboreth, must be first partaker of the fruits. Con- 
sider what I say, and the Lord give thee understand- 
ing in all things .... It is a faithful saying; For if wc 
be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we 
suffer, we shall also reign with him : If we deny him, 
he will also deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth 
faithful — he cannot deny himself. Put them in re- 
memSrance of these things.";? 

I will now conclude by making a few remarks on 
John V. 19 — 29. and if I am not wholly mistaken, 
this passage will utterly and forever cripple and de- 
molish the noisy and litigious system of Universa- 
lism. We observe seven poipts. 

I — After having cured a man who had been thirly- 
eight years diseased, Jesus promises "greater works 
than these" that the people might marvel: and 
tHese greater works are defined to be the raising of 
the very, dead in the hour that tnen was. 

2 — The Son having, by grant of the Father, life 
in himself, became the sole judge of mankind, and 
claims the same honors which are paid to the Fath- 
er. Having power to raise the dead, he holds au- 
thority to judge all men. He that cannot raise the 
dead cannot judge them. The raising of the dead 
to life, is, for this reason, a parfc of the general judg- 
ment, or a part of Christ's work as judge. 

Sir— The Father's "judging no one,^^ is equiva- 
leat in this discourse, to the Son's "quickening whom 
pt Timoii. 5-14. 



(yS UNIVERSALISM. 371 

be will." The Son is constituted the Judge of all 
BECAUSE HE IS ABLE TO raise the dead, which shows, 
as before, that the resurrection is connected with the 
judgment as the beginning of a matter is connected, 
with the end. Of course, the final judgment which 
Christ as Judge will pass upon mankind, cannot 
take place till the resurrection, unless we can sup- 
pose that the end can be reached without a begin- 
ning. 

4 — If any man, before he dies, shall hear the 
word of Christ, believing his commission from the 
Father, and shall render that obedience which is 
the fruit of such a faith, he is said to be a lord of 
death, or to have escaped from it — he ^'is passed 
from death unto life." True faith is ever to its pos- 
sessor a divine pledge of eternal life; and such a 
possessor dying at any time, will receive the full 
blessing promised. This is true only while the man 
has faith and godliness; for should he make ship- 
wreck of them, 'Hhc last state of that man is worse 
than the- first." q (By the way, if the last state of an 
apostate is worse than his firsl state, it will be not 
very easy for Universalists to find the best state of 
all beyond the last state!) Our Lord here explains 
the nature of his religion, the nature of the salvation 
promised, and the nature of those principles upon 
which he will confer eternal life to any who have 
offended. As his discourse was touching the resur- 
rection and subsequent judgment, this was the prop- 
er place to make the explanation. 

Gt — To give proof of his ultimate powers in raising 
and judging the dead, and to approach the ''greater 
q Matt, xii. 45. Luke xu 26. 



372 THE NEW LIGHT. 

works" which he had promised and which the peo- 
ple expected to see verified, Jesus says, "The hour 
is corning, and now is, when the dead shall hear 
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear 
SHALL LIVE." The raising of the dead, any of the 
dead, would by a greater work than curing a man 
thirty-eight years diseased. Well, did our Savior 
fulfil this promise in the hour that then was? "Ta- 
LiTHA cuMi! damsel, kise!" was the voice of the 
Son of God. The dead maiden heard and lived! 
she "arose and walked." (Mark v. 41.) "Lazaiius, 
come forth!" was the voice of the Son of God; 
and the man who had been dead four days, heard 
that voice, and lived! The people marvelled at 
these greater works than the curing of an immedi- 
cable disease chronic of thirty-eight years. — "Youno 
MAN, I SAY UNTO THEE, arise!" It was the voicc of 
the Son of God in the hour that then was; and the 
young man of Nain, the only son of a widowed 
mother, this dead man, heard that voice, and lived! 
Thus did our Lord literally yerefy his word, and 
thus did he bring to life as many of \k\e dead as 
heard his voice in the hour that then was. But, 

6 — As maEvellous as these works were in them- 
selves, and fitted as they were to excite a stupend- 
ous admiration among the populace; the Messiah 
proceeds to predict the accomplishment by his pow- 
er of a series of still greater works; for he says, 
"Marvel not at this" — think it not strange that du- 
ring the time I am with you, sundry dead persons 
shall hear my voice and live; "for the hour is com- 
ing" — but is not now — "when all that are in their 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 373 

GRAVES shall hear his voice, and shall come forth, 
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of 
life, and they that have done evil, to the resurrec- 
tion of damnation. 

7 — Such is the view which an int^ligent, candid, 
and unprejudiced mind would take of the meaning 
of this passage. To make it suit Universalism, it 
must be assumed that the dead in the hour that then 
was, were those who were morally so; and that their 
resurrection was not literal but moral. But I will 
now demonstrate that the whole of this assumption 
is a dream, a mere fable, or thing invented out of 
a hard necessity to shield Universalism from a just 
contempt. 

(a) — The dead here mentioned cannot be the mor- 
ally dead, because there is nothing in the context 
favorable to such an interpretation. Christ promis- 
ed to do "greater works^^ than curing the man at 
the pool: of course those greater works were mira- 
cles, greater miracles than healing the impotent 
man. Now, the raising of any of the dead is cer- 
tainly a greater work than curing a disease of thirty- 
eight years standing: but if any should be found to 
believe in Christ and obey him, could this be called 
a greater work? There is no miracle wrought in 
conversions — all is ordinary and proceeds on the 
established principles of mind and morals: but all 
miracles are extraordinary: and therefore the cur- 
ing of the man at Bethesda was a greater work than 
raising the dead in the hour that then was, if Uni- 
versalism be true. Christ promised greater works; 
but the gloss of Universalism makes him do a work^ 



874 THE NEW LIGHT^ 

(the impartation of faith,) which is dexidedly less! 
Besides; if one part of the discourse is to be ihter- 
pretted figuratively, and the other literally, the man 
himself at Bethesda may turn out to mean a man 
that had been a sinner for thirty-eight years! 

(b) — That the dead brought to life in the hour 
that then was, were not the morally but the liter- 
ally dead, appears with absolute evidence from the 
history of the times. The days of Jesus w^ere not 
the days of conversion to the Christian religion, for 
the plainest of all reasons, it was not preached at 
that time in any other way than as at hand. True, the 
hour then was that the true worshippers worshipped 
the Fatherin Spirit and in truth, not at Jerusalem on- 
ly, but in all parts of the country: but it is not true 
that during the ministry of Christ conversions were 
effected by his doctrine in the sense of that term as 
used by the apostles. The apostles themselves were 
not converted till after the resurrection of their 
Master. It is also true, that great multitudes were 
gathered about the person of the Lord, heard his 
discourses, and marvelled at his works; but it is 
equally true, that the influence^i by which the apos- 
tles and more remote disciples were attracted to 
him, were other than those which afterwards con- 
verted so many thousands. Besides, the fact stated 
that the dead at that time should hear the voice of 
the Son of God and live, is insisted on as some- 
thing more or greater than had been observed for- 
merly among mankind: but if, by the resurrection 
of the dead, in this case, the impartation of spirit- 
uaUife were meant^ it was in fact nothing more 



ON tNIVERSALISM. 375 

wonderful or greater than what had been common 
among men from Adam to Moses, and from Moses to 
John the Baptist! What force would there have 
^een in the words, had Christ said, '•Verily, verily, 
i say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when 
men shall be converted just as the have been since 
the world began !'^ Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
reader, that in that case the Lord would have spo- 
ken with as little sense or propriety as a Universa- 
list clergyman! 

(c)— We take another step in the argument and 
come to the point of demonstration. ''The dead 
shalihear the voice of the Son of God, and they 
that hear shall live^^"^ said Jesus. But was this true 
touching the moralJy dead? They heard his dis- 
courses, and not a few of them even believed him to 
be the Messiah, but after all, did they live? Did 
the lawyers, pharisees, scribes, priests, and rulers 
hear the voice of the Son of God? Certainly they 
did. But did they live? Were they converted? 
did they enjoy the spiritual life of faith? If so, how 
came it to pass that they murdered him? Almost 
the whole Jewish nation heard his voice, but so far 
from living, so far from being converted, o« a nation 
they disregarded his words and works, so that a mis- 
creant and robber became, by actual vote, more 
popular than he! But if it be assumed that the 
word "/lear— they that Acar,"— means more than 
mere hearing, as it sometimes does, the matter will 
be made no better; for, as we have seen, such hear- 
ing and turning to the Lord were not characteris- 
tics of the hour that then was. Universalisra is 



376 THE NEW LI(iHT. 

therefore strangled by this passage, and it will vain- 
ly endeavor to escape. 

(d) — Having thus demonstrated that the ^'dead^^ 
in the hour that then was, were those who had died 
of physical disease, it follows that ''all zvho are in 
their graves''^ indicates all. that part of mankind ca- 
pable of doing good or ill, that had gone from the 
world by what we call natural death, before the ma- 
king of the call upon them by the voice of the Son 
of God: for you will observe, that the accomplish- 
ment of the resurrection of "all that are in their 
graves," is asserted as a still greater and more mar- 
vellous work than raising the dead that heard his 
voice in the hour that then was, as that was a great- 
er work than healing one who had been afflicted 
thirty-eight years. ., But as Universalists assume that 
the death and resurrection mentioned,, (verses 28^ 
29,) are figurative, not literal, we shall now proceed 
to reduce the assumption to an absurdity. Our 
friends may fix the time and place of their fanciful 
deaths and resurrections when and where they 
please: our argument shall be suited to any time 
and any latitude. It is admitted and maintained^ 
generally, by Universalists, that the Jews from be- 
fore the time of Christ, at that time, and subsequent- 
ly till the fall of Jerusalem, were morally dead and 
in their graves; but that, after the destruction of the 
city, Christianity sprang up everywhere — that this 
great religious revival^ in fine, is the resurrection 
here predicted by our Lord — All those Jews and 
even Gentiles should hear his voice, and come forth! 
But if all this be true, the following kink of absurd- 
ities will follow: 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 377 

(1) That moral death is very different from what 
men have generally defined it. "All that are in 
their graves," means, in this view, all that are in 
sin, or under its dominion. Well, "they that have 
done good,'^ must mean either that the good was 
done before they died morally and were morally 
buried, or that it was done while they were moral- 
ly dead. If it were done before they died morally,, 
then they must be regarded as apostates^ and we have 
the singular spectacle of apostacy from truth pro- 
ducing a title to the resurrection of life! This^ 
then, will not do. But if the good were done by 
them while dead and buried in sin, this is a contra- 
diction in terms equivalent to saying, they that have 
done good in doing evil, shall come forth to the res- 
urrection of life! The good therefore here said to 
have been done before, and entitling to the resur- 
rection of life, could not have been done in a state 
of moral death, nor in a state of virtue before the 
moral death took place, as this latter supposition 
gives the promise of life especially to apostates from, 
religion. It does not seem likely that Christ intend- 
ed to teach so preposterous a doctrine. But it fol- 
lows, 

(2) That "they that have done evil," has no 
meaning whatever: for what is the doing of evil but 
being morally dead? The whole mass is described 
as being dead and buried, but as having done good 
or evil either before they went into that state, or 
while in it. If they did evil before they died moral- 
ly, they were dead before they died, and could not 
die after they were dead. If they did evil while 



378 THE NEW LIGHT. 

morally dead, the evil they did was the death itself 
they died, which is nonsense. Bat they must come 
forth from their moral death, by hearing the voice 
of the Son of God, into a worse condition than the 
one they left, damnation! If the Son of God in- 
tended their happiness by letting them hear his 
voice and come forth, he was mistaken in this in- 
stance, for their condition is made greatly worse by 
this renowned Universalist resurrection ! — It follows, 
(3) If the scene of this resurrection be laid after 
the destruction of Jerusalem, then '"o//" the Jews 
came forth either to life or condemnation according 
as they had done good or evil before that catastro- 
phe, which is contrary to fact in the premises; for it 
is notorious that the great majority of the Jews that 
could be saved by the gospel, were saved before the 
destruction of the city, and that the miserable rem- 
nant, "vessels of wrath fitted for destruction," were 
given over and "blinded,'^ But if it be allowed 
that this great moral resurrection took place before 
the fall of Jerusalem, the place is made only the 
warse; for those from among the Jews who em- 
braced the gospel and were saved on Pentecost and 
afterwards, had not "rfo?ie g-oo^i" in the antecedent 
part of their lives, but great evil—'^'hy wicked 
bands" they had crucified and slain the Prince of 
Life, as Peter charged them. They did not enjoy 
the gospel because they had done good before they 
believed it, but, having done immense evil, they 
were permitted to be saved from that evil by divine 
favor. — If we fix the time and place of this imagi- 
raary resurrection auy time or anywhere else^ the 



GTf TJNIVERSALIS3I, 379 

same insurmountable obstructions will beset it. Ill- 
fated scheme of Universalism! Can it not do some- 
thing better to hide its nakedness? — It follows, 

(4) That, if being dead and buried morally means 
a state of sin, or sinfulness, hearing the voice of 
the Son of God and coming forth from that condi- 
tion, must mean conversion by faith in his blood. 
Then, according to this most luminous philosophy, 
those that had done good by doing evil, or, (which 
is the same thing,) had done good in a state of sin, 
must come forth to the resurrection of life; while 
those poor fellows who had done only evil in a state 
of evil, must be converted by the voice of the Son 
of God in order to be inevitably damned! What 
a singular office of conversion is this! It is every- 
way worthy of the system it has been invented to 
support. Truly the way of the transgressor is hard, 
and the work of the sophist is contemptible. — It 
follows, 

(5) 'If the phrases "have done good^' and ''have 
done evil," mean that those virtues and vices were 
to be practised after the moral resurrection, the sys- 
tem so arguing, says to our Lord, You ought to have 
expressed yourself thus, "And shall come forth, they 
that will do good to the resurrection of life, and 
they that will do evil after they come forth, to the 
resurrection of damnation;" — but they who would 
thus instruct the Lord how he should have taught, 
would not believe him let him say what he might. 
The truth is, He has said nothing like this, but the 
direct opposite; and therefore, till it shall be ascer- 
^tained that it was \m practice to say one thing and 



380 THE NEW LIGHT. 

mean another, we shall content ourselves in belier- 
ing that he was not only an honest man, but the 
PROPER SON and apostle of the Father. — But if the 
foregoing be true, that is, if Jesus meant by "they 
that have done good" and "they that have done evil," 
they that will do good or evil after they come forth, 
it would still be worth while to inquire what coming 
forth can mean. The doing of good or evil after 
coming forth by the power of the divine voice, must 
mean conversion and a refusing to be converted: 
but if a man refuses to be converted, refuses to obey 
the divine voice, from what does he come forth? 
what condition has he left? and into what state has 
he come? When he heard the voice of the Son of 
God and came forth from the grave, did he obey 
that voice? and if so, how could he be damned imme- 
diately as a consequence of obedience? His com- 
ing forth was either obedience or disobedience, or 
neither. If obedience, then he cannot be damned 
upon coming forth: If disobedience, then his coming 
forth means his staying back: If neither, then he 
can be no more praised or blamed for coming forth 
than a piece of granite that tumbles down a moun- 
tain. How perfectly suicidal, then, is this misera- 
ble system of quibbles and contradictions! The 
truth is, "they that have done good," and "they that 
have done evil," cannot be applied to the persons af- 
ter they are raised up in reference either to their 
present or future conduct, but to what they had 
done before they died. This admits of no evasion 
or concealment. — It follows finally, 

(6) That Universalists must shift their views of 



ON UNIVERSALISM. 381 

this passage. This they are now preparing to do. 
Formerly, they maintained that the death and buri- 
al here mentioned, meant moral death, or a state of 
sinning, of ignorance, or depravity; but having been 
cooped up, as above, and been made to see the ut- 
ter absurdity of the hypothesis, the knowing ones 
are beginning to look out for other ground. They 
cannot now call this death a state of sinning, 
for we have reduced the whole assumption to an 
absurdity — for coming forth would then mean the 
conversion of all <hat should hear the voice of the 
Son of God, and conversion would land some of its 
subjects into downright damnation. Well, what is 
to be done? for this is a narrow place to stand on! 
Why, some state, or condition must be found and 
must be called death which is neither sin nor holi- 
ness, neither good nor evil, and which has neither 
the approbation nor disapprobation of God! And 
some must have done good before they go into it,and 
others must have done evil before they arrived at 
this hazy empire of betweendom ; and then all must 
come forth either to life or damnation according as 
they had done good or evil before they went into 
their betweenity! 

At the present writing, such is the state into which 
our Universalist friends are driven: they are beaten 
off from all their former explanations of this passage, 
and are now on wing between upper, nether, and 
surrounding dilemmas, seeking for something to be 
called death in this passage, that is neither sin, nor 
holiness, nor death itself, nor anything that has been 
described by poet or priest, lexicographer or drama- 



M^ THE NEW LIGHT. 

list since the world began or till it shall end. And 
here we leave them suspended — and here we dis- 
miss their self-destructive, unbelieving, and most 
unscriptural and unphilosophical system of absurdi- 
ties and contradictions. 



CHAPTER XXVir. 
I. Of Infants, Idiots, and Pagans. 

The Subject intoduced — Infinite Procreatability of the Human 
Race — A dangerous Method of Interpretation — Two Classes 
o-f People to be raised from the Dead — Whether insensible In- 
fants, Untimely births, Mal-formations, Monsters, &c. &c. will 
be raised from the Dead — Various Scriptures examined in Re- 
lation to this Subject — Reflections and conclusion. 

In taking leave of the great subject of the final 
destiny of mankind, it is but natural that we turn 
our attention to such questions as the following: 
What is to be the destiny of such infants as die be- 
fore the dawn of reason, or before the soul (by which 
I understand the responsible principle) is developed 
or expanded so as to receive divine instruction? 
What is to be the destiny of those unfortunate be- 
ings we term idiots? And, finally, what may we an- 
ticipate as the ultimate condition of those Heathen 
who never heard or cannot hear the gospel? These 
questions are of some importance in a work like 



ON INFANTS. 383 

this, and thdugh we have but little revelation in 
reference to their solution, still there are som5 hints 
given and some inferences to be drawn, which a 
sober and considerate niind should not wholly des- 
pise. With such a modesty as may comport with 
a subject where there is no room for dogmatism, the 
reader is invited to contemplate the following sec^ 
tions. 

§ I The human race is peculiar in many re- 
spects, but in none more so than in the wonderfo! 
attribute of multiplying itself infinitely. In this> 
however, it is not alone peculiar; yet even in this it 
is peculiar among peculiarities, most wonderful in 
the midst of wonders, and the most incomprehensi- 
ble of all terrestrial incomprehensibilKies. Doubt- 
less when the Devil had deceived our mother, and 
when she had led away our father, the empire o{ 
hell was ready to conclude that the creation of man 
was a failure. But how was the gloomy King of 
the Pit astonished when he saw in the arms of our 
primitive mother a little helpless infant, when hs 
saw it increasing in staliire and in knowledge; and 
when he saw another, and another, and others again 
succeeding; till finally, standing aghast, he was 
forced to calculate innumerable millions multiplied 
into millions without end, and among them one at 
last, THE Seed gf the Woman, who should break 
his head! And when the Second Adam was born, 
when he died, when he rose,, when he ascended on 
high, the devil felt with infinite bitterness that on 
childbearingGod had mad eto depend the salvation of 
mankind and the aubveraoa of the kingdom of dark- 



384 THE NEW LIGHT. 

ness in the world. The importance of 4his subject 
is thus developed hy Paul: "Adam was first formed, 
then Eve: and Adam was not deceived, but the wo- 
man being deceived, was in the transgression. Not- 
withstanding she shall be saved in," that is by 
means of, "childbearing, t/ THEY," that is, her chil- 
dren male and female, "continue in faith, and 

CHARITY, AND HOLINESS WITH SOBRIETY.'^ a But WC 

must return from this digression. 

§ II. When man had sinned, that fatal act sub- 
jected him and his posterity not only to death, but 
to all the steps leading to the grave, diseases, acci- 
dents, and a long and sorrowful catalogue of anxie- 
ties and cares. Being thus the victim of death, the 
grave at any time may receive him: in any condi- 
tion and at any time of life he is liable to fall by the 
shaft of that fatal archer. The old man full of days, 
the youth full of hope and buoyant with life, and the 
infant of an hour, are each daily passing out of the 
world to make room for others that shall i^fi like 
manner go out in their turn: and while we reflect, 
that the old, or the middle-aged, or even the youth 
are passing out in hope of bliss, or in dread of per- 
dition, we become anxious to know what is the des- 
tiny of those little innocents who never know any 
thing, not even that they ever breathed the breath 
of life. Will they be made immortal? Will they 
be raised up from the dead and finish their growth 
of body and mind in the glorious paradise of 
God? 

I am aware that almost all christian people take 
the ground that infants dying in infancy or before 
a 1 Tim. i, 15. 



6n infants. o85 

the ditwn of reason, are saved, or will be saved 
from the grave which is an effect of sin. I will, 
then, pat them to the proof of this, to the proof by 
Scripture; for in religion there is no advantage to 
be derived to any doctrine, or from it, when want- 
ing in this great and essential feature. When we 
have what God has said on any subject of religion^ 
we have all that we can know of that subject: and 
ii on some subjects he has said nothing, it is pre- 
sumed that he did not intend us to know any thing 
of those subjects. The apostle John, though about 
to write the things uttered by the seven thunders, 
did not w^rite; and hence we have no means of 
knowing the things uttered by those thunders. 
Where our leaders have lead we may go; but when 
they stay, we must stay with them. It has been 
one of the most fruitful sources of error and delu- 
sion among christians, that they have made and 
practised certain rites and ceremonies, and invent- 
ed certain doctrines,' merely because the Scriptures 
have said nothing about them! Thus men have 
baptised infants, for the}* tell us, the Scriptures do not 
say, Ye shall not baptise them! and thus the long 
aqd gloomy string of Catholic and Protestant, cor- 
ruptions has been made longer in the lapse of years 
out of this ever prolific source of error and super- 
stition. But is it so, that because Ihe Bible does 
not, in so fnany words, mention and forbid by name, 
any modern practice that men mny .^uent, w^e may 
receive it as divine? If this S • the principle thatis 
to govern us, we may at once u'id adi'ui to all purity 
in worship and to all authority in religioni When 
25 



886 THE NEW BIGHT. 

we go beyond what is written^ we stumble upon t!ie 
dark mountains, being, liable to fall into any ditch, 
or to be tumbled over any precipice. When we go 
beyond the Bible and make it authorize, by silence^ 
what we would establish, we in effect add to it; for 
we say that it should have authorized our practices 
—we attempt to improve upon the Bible,^ and are 
therefore under the curse pronounced upon him who 
would add to its revelations,^ Now, there is no one, 
1 suppose, who has ever added any thing to the Bi- 
ble by putting new words and sentences into it; but 
there are very many who have in effect done this 
by instituting human traditions in the church, and 
then calling them divine. Let mankind be careful 
in this matter, lest a worse fate than that of of Uz- 
zah overtake them. He was struck dead for touch- 
ing God's ark, b and others may have their names 
taken out of the Book of Life for loading the chris- 
tian reUgion with a hateful incubus of human tra- 
ditions, c 

§ IlL We shall proceed, in the first place, to in- 
quire to whom the promise of heaven is given, and 
shall then leave it to others if they will to say that 
the promise includes a greater number than that 
specified in it. In his celebrated sermon at Antioch 
in Pisidia Paul addressed the Jews thus: "Men and 
brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and 
whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the 
word of this salvation sent.'^' d What salvation is 
here meant? The salvation, beyond doubt, which the 
apostles were commissioned to proclaim to the 
w^orld. We have already considered their commis* 
b 1 Chroii. xiii. 9. c Rev. xxii. 19c d Acts xiii. 26. 



ON INFANTS, 387 

sion in another part of this work. "Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature: 
he that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved, but 
he that believeth not, shall be damned." Salvation, 
then, the salvation of the gospel, is offered to such 
and only such as can hear and receive it — -to such 
as fear God and obey him. This salvation consists 
iji the remission of sins, in the gift of the Holy 
Spirit, and is accompanied with joy, peace, love, to- 
gether with all the fruits of righteousness. The sub- 
jects of this salvation "have their fruit unto holi- 
ness, and the end everlasting life.^' The questions 
will arise hence. Can those who canno't hear the 
word of God, who cannot understand it, who, though 
they do not disbelieve, cannot believe — Can these 
be included in the salvation promised to the active 
followers of the Lamb? If so, might not others be 
included whose characters have not been perfectly 
formed? If we begin to admit those who are not 
positively holy, where shall we stop? or who shall 
describe the boundary of our innovations? If the 
Bible means more than it says, the question is, how 
much more? If more^ will some worm of the dust 
no more inspired than the writer of these pages, be 
kind enough to attempt lo measure off the extent of 
that redundancy in meaning? Let him. do this, or 
I insist upon it, he ought to hold his peace. 

§ IV. Whatever may be the destiny of dying 
infants in the next world — (I mean, as before, sach 
as are so young as to be unable to receive instruc- 
tion) — it is cd^tain they enjoy no salvation here* 
But the question is, Will they be raised from the 



388 THE NEW LIGHT. 

dead and glorified! If so, certainly none of us can 
have any objection to their immortahty. Still we 
ask, Can their resurrection be proved by the Scrip- 
tures? Let lis consult one of the plainest passages 
in the Bible, a passage which teaches that there 
will be a general revival of the dead: ''The hour is 
coming in the which all that are in their graves shall 
hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have 
done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they 
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of dam- 
nation." e Now, infants of the class we have speci- 
fied, have done neither good nor evil. In the res- 
urrection, then, they will either be left behind in 
the soft and dreamless sleep of eternity, or else will 
come forth to a state that is neither good nor bad, a 
condition corresponding with their character of nei- 
ther holiness nor wickedness. And here I will say, 
as before, if the Lord shall be pleased to bring them 
forth into such a condition, and give them instruc- 
tion suited to their new life that they may be reared 
up in a school of immortality, I can have no ob- 
jection: but will he do it? Can we prove that this 
will be their condition? Are there any scriptures 
which assert or promise their resurrection? 

§ V. Another passage which treats of the res- 
urrection of the saints, reads as follows: ''The chil- 
dren of this world marry, and are given in marriage; 
but they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain 
that world and the resurrection from the dead, nei- 
ther marry nor are given in marriage: neither can 
they die any more; for they are equal unto the an- 
gels; and are the children of God, being the chil- 
eJohnv. 28, 29. 



ON INFANTS. 389 

dren of the festrrrectroii/^/ The persons here said 
to be immortal after the resiTrrection and equal to 
the angels, are the jusi^ or such as had become wor- 
thy of the heavenly world by their good actions. 
If infants, such as we have named, are included in 
the passage, it would seem to have more meaning 
than it confesses upon the face of it. So far, then, 
as we have gone, there is not yet found a declara- 
tion in favor of the resurrection of such infants. I 
know the matter is not very important; but when 
professors take upon them the obligations of chris- 
tians they should be careful to believe so much only 
as is written. John in his revelations was permit- 
ted to behold the company of the glorified in heav- 
en, those from among the twelve tribes of Israel', 
with those also "a great multitude which no man 
could number, of all nations and kindreds and peo- 
ple and tongues;"^ "and one of the elders answer- 
ed, saying unto me," said John, ^What are these 
who are arrayed in white robes, and whence came 
they ?' And I said. Sir, thou knowest. And he said 
\into me, "These are they who came out of great 
tribulation and have washed their robes and made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb.' " Here we 
behold the glorious reward of the righteous in heav- 
en: elsewhere we are made acquainted with the 
just retribution that will fall upon all the finally im- 
penitent. But we have not yet found a passage 
which plainly teaches the resurrection of infants. 
John does not mention them so as to distinguish 
them from the actively righteous, in the above innu- 
merable company. They may have been there, and 
f Luke XX. 34-36. g Rev.vii. 9, 10, 11. 



390 THE NEW LIGHT* 

John may have «een them; but from what he has 
said we cannot prove that they were. 

§ VL When Paul was brought before Felix and 
replied to the speech of Tertullu&, he found occa- 
sion to make this confession of his faith — I have 
•*'hope towards God * * ^ that there shall be a resur- 
rection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." A 
But in this passage, the two characters to be raised 
are most plainly mentioned. The apostle says not a 
word respecting those who were neither just nor un- 
just. He could not have been ignorant that many 
millions had died before his time, and that many mill- 
ions more would die before the resurrection, that 
had been and would be neither the. one nor the oth- 
er of the characters mentioned; and yet he says 
nothing of their resurrection at the very place where 
we would expect him to tell how many and who 
would be raised* But he groups "the just and the 
unjust^' together in one sentence^ for wise and justi- 
fiable reasons, no doubt. It would not be the part 
of reason for me to say, that God cannot or will not 
raise the infants in question; for he may do many 
things not so much as mentioned in the Scriptures. 
What he may, or can, or will do, is one thing, but 
what he has taught us to believe in his word is an- 
other thing. Let those who affirm that infants will 
be raised from the dead, proceed to prove their po- 
sition. What God may do, is his own business; 
what he has commanded us to do, is ours; and what 
he has given us to know, we may rejoice in; but the 
things which he has put within his own keeping, 
must remain seerets to us* Had they been for our 
h Acts xxiv. 15. 



^N INFANTS. 391 

advantage, certainly he would have made them 
kAown. But men have ever been prone to be wise 
above that which is written — hence many have been 
puffed up by a fleshly wisdom which is folly in the 
sight of God* 

§ VIL But an objector comes in with a passage 
of Scripture, to which it becomes my duty to listen* 
Jesus said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, 
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of 
God* Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not 
receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in. 
jio wise enter therein." f Now, we must allow, and 
we do so joyfully, (for we have no interest in error,) 
that this passage bears a most pleasing aspect to- 
wards little children. "Of such is the kingdom of 
God," though others enter that kingdom as well as 
children. Men must be converted and become as 
little children, if they would enjoy the christian re- 
ligion. Little children are docile, pliant, yielding, 
and confiding. In this respect they are fit figures or 
patterns of that confiding faith which everywhere is 
so much commended by our Lord and his apostles. 
But little children may receive the kingdom of God; 
and older persons must receive it as children, if they 
receive it at aill. There is a wide difference, how- 
ever, between the little children here mentioned as 
receiving the kingdom of God, and infants that die 
in their infancy and never know any thing. To re- 
ceive the kingdom of God, is to act with intelligence 
and love; and "little children" are capable of doing 
all this. The apostle John defines "little children^' 
precisely as our Lord here defines them. John 
i.Matt.j[:ix. 14; Markx.14; Luke xviii. 17. 



3-9^2 THE NEW LIGHT. 

wrote to them — "I have written unto jou, little chil- 
dren^' — and he exharted them, "little children, 
keep yourselves from idols." k What a glorioas 
sight to see little hojs and girls so well instructed 
in the religion of their Lord and Master, as to be- 
lieve in him and obey his precepts! And many do 
this at a very green age. Indeed,, "it is good that 
a man bear the yoke in his youth^" as a prophet 
long ago testified. 

§ VIII. That the above view has its foundation 
in Scripture, is farther evident from the following 
passage: "At that time came the disciples unto Je- 
sus, saying. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven? And Jesus called a little child (Paidion) 
unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and 
said. Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted 
and become as little children, [to, paidia^) ye shall 
not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever 
therefore shall humble himself, as this Utile child (to 
paidion touto^ the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child 
in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend 
one of these Utile ones which believe in me, it is better 
for him that a millstone wei:e hanged about his 
neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the 
sea." I 

Upon this place you will remark, that Christ aims 
to teach humility and innocence to them that would 
follow him. A high and imperious spirit cannot 
find admittance into his kingdom. To represent 
the required innocence, docility, and humbleness of 
xnind, he calls to himself, in the presence o£ Iw dls? 
klJohnv.SL IMat^.xym. 1—0*. 



GN INFANTS. 393 

ciples, a little child, and says. Now you must be 
converted and become as this child, as meek and 
confiding, a& humble and submissive, as tractable 
and obedient as he, or you cannot be great in the 
kingdom of God. And thus the remarks of Jesus 
naturally pass over from the little child in his pres- 
ence, to the little ones that believe in him, namely, 
his disciples, I need not labor to prove that there 
is here such a transition: but I admit that the little 
child called up on this occasion may have been of 
sufficient age to believe on him* The child seems 
to have been pleased with his situation and with the 
attentions paid to him. I would by no means say, 
that such a child as this, dying in infancy, would 
fail to be raised — for here is intelligence, here is 
affection, and here perhaps also is even faith. 

§ IX. It is the part of candor here to confess, 
that in the quotation we have made from Luke 
xviii. 15, infants are mentioned as being brought to 
Christ to receive his blessing. In Matthew they are 
termed '^^ little children^' (Pa/t/m;) and in Mark, 
^'^young children/' (paidia.) But in Luke the word 
is different, but is taken to convey, of course, the 
same meaning, namely, infants^ (brephee^) a word that 
has various shades of signification. The word sig- 
nifies in Luke i. 41, 4i, a babe unborn; in Luke ii. 
12, Acts vii. 19, and 1 Pet. i. 2, it means new-born 
babes; and in the passage before us it means a child, 
infant, that is, a person partly grown up in life. 
The word occurs again in 2 Tim. iii. 15, where Paul 
says to his son, "But continue thou in the things 
which thou hast learned and hast been assured oX, 



394 THE NEW LIGHT. 

knowing of whom thou ha«t learned them, and that 
from a (brephos) child thou hast known the holy 
scriptures,'^ &c. Thus we see that the infants or 
children brought to Christ, on this occasion, may 
have been as large or as old as Timothy was, of 
whom it is said that he had understood the Scriptures 
from a child. These passages, then, do not seem to 
afford any thing like plain proof that mal-formed 
foetuses, untimely births, or still-born babes will be 
regarded as anything more than inanimate matter. 
Let it be remembered, that Christ^s great design in 
teaching his disciples by refering to little children 
was, that his followers must be innocent, that the 
kingdom of heaven is innocence, and that such in- 
nocence is absolutely essential to all who would en- 
joy it. It was greatly the practice of our Lord to 
utter his doctrine in figures and parables, or dark 
sayings. But the apostles have unveiled all his sen- 
tences, 

§ X. it may be proper to remark that there is 
another passage, or rather another part of the same 
jpassage, which has been thought by some to refer 
to infants: it reads thus:: '^Take he*ed that ye despise 
not one of these little ones^ (toon mikroon ioutoon-^) 
for I say unto you, that in heaven there angels do al- 
ways behold the face of mj Father who is in heav- 
en. For the Son of Man is come to save that which 
was lost. How think ye? if a man have a hundred 
sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not 
leave the ninety-and-nine and goeth into the moun- 
tains and seeketh that which is gone astray? And 
if so be that he find it, verily I say uutp you^ he re- 



ON INFANTS. 395 

joiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and 
nine that went not astray. Even so it is not the 
will of your Father who is in heaven that one of 
these /zVZ/e one5 should perislu" m What is n^eant 
by 'Hittle ones^^ in the above passage, is evident from 
the whole place — they are his disciples, christians, 
especially his apostles among the rest. In another 
place they are called babes: "I thank thee, O Fath- 
€r^ Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast 
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
revealed them unto (neepiais} hah esJ'* Matt. x. 25. 
But to carrry the argument no farther, it is perfectly 
clear that by the terms little ones in the above 
passage our Lord meant sinners who had returned 
to his government, as will be seen by the explana- 
tion which he himself gave in the account furnish- 
ed by Luke. After having said, as quoted above, 
that when the man had found the lost sheep and re- 
joiced more over it than he did of the whole flock 
that had not been lost, instead of saying as in Mat- 
thew^ "Even so it is not the will of your Father that 
one of these little ones should perish, he adds, "I say 
unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over 
one sinner that repenteth^ more than over ninety and 
nine just persons who need no repentance/' n So 
that its being the will of God that not one Utile one 
should perish, is equal to, and, in the parable, means 
the same as, one sinner that repenieth. These places, 
then, as I understand them^ furnish no proof that 
untimely or monstrous births, or still-born babes, 
will be raised from the dead. If, however, this 
€hall happen by the power of God, it will be an 
m Matt, iviii. IQ, 14. n Luke xv. 4, 7. 



396 THE NEW LIGHT. 

entirely new creation rather than a resurrection, 
the making of beings that never really existed, rath- 
er than the revival of those who once enjoyed life. 
Be the matter as it may, the passages thus far con- 
sidered do not furnish positive proof of the resur- 
rection of those parts of humanity which appear to 
me as redandapt or supernumerary. 

§ XL Before taking our final leave of this sub- 
ject, it may not be improper to indulge in a reflec- 
tion or two. Some imagine that in heaven they will 
have all the selfish feelings and enjoyments which 
they have in this world; that they will not only 
recognize their children, fathers, wives, husbands, 
mothers, brothers, sisters, &c. but enjoy some spe- 
cial bliss growing out of these relations which had 
their origin and office on the earth. Hence, the 
preacher tells the bereaved mother that she shall 
see her babe, her husband, &c. and a species of 
feelings is excited by such speeches which are not 
always the most commendable in a public assembly. 
But what will the reader think when I tell him that 
these fond feelings will not be gratified in the way 
anticipated. Heaven is not going to be a selfish 
place like the earth, divided off into family groups 
rejoicing in their own happy condition unmindful of 
ihe condition of others. I will not say that we will 
be unable to distinguish our frie'nds, our children, 
&c.; but I will say that we will be made so perfect 
that we will not think of or love one more than an- 
other in that most pure and holy and numerous fam- 
ily. We will be in heaven actuated by such love, 
such true and seraphic benevolence as animated the 



ON INFANTS. 397 

heart of the world's Redeemer while he w^as on 
earth accomplishing our salvation. Was he par- 
tial towards his kinsmen, or even towards his moth- 
er? Let his own words testify. "Who is my moth- 
er?" said he; "and who are my brethren? And he 
stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and 
^ said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For 
whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in 
heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
mother." o Such, then, was the perfection of the 
love of Jesus that he did not love his own mother 
more than he loves other good worshippers of God. 
His heart belonged to and sought the best good of 
the universal brotherhood of man. He was a broth- 
er among brethren, and the all-inciting love of the 
Godhead lived and glowed in his heart. And in 
proportion as we are made to resemble him, in this 
world or that to come, we will like him in our meas- 
ure be impartial in our loves. 

§ XH. 'This subject will receive additional illus- 
tration from the aid of several other Scriptures, 
Paul says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a ne\v 
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all 
things are become new.'' p This is doubtless said in 
relation to being in Christ by being in his church on 
earth: yet, if on earth the christian or rather the 
sinner is so made new that he forgets his former hates 
and loves and becomes new in the employment of 
his affe'ctions and in reference to the great end of 
his existence, when, in and by Christ he shall arrive 
at the world of glory and bliss, he will infinitely 
transcend his most exalted earthly condition. The 
o Matt. xii. 48, 50. p 2 Cor. v. 17. 



398 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



apostle John, penetrated with the vastne&s of the 
divine love, and overcome with the profusion of the 
precious promises, holds the following most modest 
and pious style: ^'Beloved, now are we the sons of 
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: 
but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be 
like him; for we shall see him as he is/'~"And now, 
little children, abide in him, that, when he shall ap- 
pear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed 
before him at his coming." q 

§ XIII. ''We know not what we &hall be!" but 
we know that the new creation commenced in us 
will be carried on and completed. And this knowl- 
edge gives us some clue to the understanding of that 
heavenly state to which the power and providence 
of God are bringing us. Jesus Christ is set before 
us as our pattern and exemplar. We shall be made 
like him! And this finishing of the new creation is 
a matter of prophecy; for this same John who had 
seen before his death the kingdom of God come 
with power when he was with Jesus in the holy 
mount, saw also, while an exile in Patmos^ in pro- 
phetic vision, (he time come for the completion of 
the mighty w^ork, and heard the voice of the Eter- 
nal declaring, "Behold, I make all things newP'r 
When, then, the whole world shall be made new, 
with new heavens above us, new and shining glo- 
ries all around, and even our own bodies shall be 
fashioned after the model of the glorious body of 
Jesus, there will be no restraints upon our happy and 
holy affections; no envy at the fame and glory of 
others; for our powers will be drawa out towards, 
q 1 John iii^ 3 and iL ^8^ 25. r Rev. xxi. 5, 



ON 2KFAKTS* 399 

mud so conformed to our divine model, that we shall 
love perfectly what he perfectly loves, and find our 
heaven in being where he is and in doing what he 
enjoins. Family and party polilics will of course 
disappear. Marriage itself being done away, 5 all 
the relations growing out of it, or that had grown 
out of it on earth, will of course sjiibside, and a new 
order of brotherhood and communion will obtain 
thenceforward for ever and ever. We shall not 
love our children less because they are our children,, 
but we will love others as much though not our chil- 
dren — for all will be the children of God being the 
children of the Resurrection. Our fully new life 
will commence after we shall have been raised from 
the dead, and then will commence also our new re- 
lationship as children of the Resurrection. One 
redeemed soul and body will be as dear to us as an- 
other — so perfect and divine will be the benevolence 
that will form the rule of our lives and actions. 
Who would not strive for such a heaven as this? 
Who does not desire to be made perfect and new in 
Christ Jesus? The revolution of ages will bring it 
on in its time; and I am sure all the good and pious 
will rejoice when it is said, "Behold, the Bridegroom 
cometh!" Reader, will you be ready to go out and 
meet him? 

§ XIV. Let no one imagine from what has been 
said, that we hold that there will be no resurrection 
of children; lor so we have not taught, I believe 
there will be a resurrection of children as well as 
of older persons; but the reader will recollect what 
I have said, namely, that there will not, as I think9 
sMatt;Exii. 30, 



400 THE NEW LIGHT. 

be a resurrection of untimely births, of mal-forma- 
tions, of monsters, and of those children, either 
still-born, or that did not live long enough to form a 
remembrance o( the past: for, should such be raised 
from the dead, they could not know at the time that 
they had lived before. And I suppose if any pa- 
rents have produced children not more than half- 
formed, or improperly formec, or spoiled so as to 
resemble beasts or serpents, such parents would hard- 
ly demand their resurrection. Let all parents who 
have been afflicted in this way, or with idiots, con- 
sole themselves by reflecting, that God will do right 
with all the creatures he has made; and that if the 
parents themselves shall arrive at the heavenly 
country they will see and enjoy enough to make up 
perfect bliss, though for the present they may be 
unable to understand the mysteries of God, or in- 
deed to tell what they themselves shall be. 

§ XV. The salvation preached in the gospel, and 
which, viewed in relation to this life, consists in the 
remission of sins, cannot, for this reason, be de- 
signed for such infants as connot appreciate it, for 
they have no sins to be remitted. All that seems 
necessary for them is, if they die in this condition, 
to raise them from the dead and give them immortal- 
ity. But whether this will be done, or not, is not 
for me to say: we have no express Scriptures to 
prove it, and hence it is the part of wisdom to com- 
mit the whole matter into the hands of God who 
will ever do right. It is dangerous to speculate into 
things that belong to a region beyond the Record. 
While we have light let us believe in the light, that 



ON INFANTS. 401 

we may be children of the Light. Whatever God's 
rule in relation to these little innocents may be, 
one thing is certain in reference to us who hear and 
understand the Bible, and that is, if we do not re- 
ceive and obey the doctrine of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, if we do not submit to his government and 
continue faithful to his commandments, we will nev- 
er be allowed to see him in peace. 

I am sensible that in denying the resurrection of 
the still-born and mis-formed portion of our infan- 
tile race, I am likely to encounter the prejudices of 
the uninformed and superstitious: but as I have al- 
ready defined my position, those who are candid and 
desire to know the truth, will consider me neither 
unreasonable nor unparental. I leave what has 
been written to the judgment of a candid world 
and to the good providence of God, remarking, that 
for these views and those to be expressed from this 
point to the close of this volume, I only, am to be 
held responsible, and not the body of Christians to 
which I have the honor to belong. 
26 



CHAPTER XXVIIL 
IL Ot Infants, Idiots, and Pagans. 

Idiots both Natural and Accidental-^-Their probable Destiny-^^ 
The Heathen to be judged by what Light they have — By thai 
Light they may be either saved or lost — Those who have no 
light at all will probably sleep fof ever in death.-«-Reasons and 
Reflections upon the whole premises, and Conclusion. 

§ L Concerning Idiots it is not necessary to say 
much, as the remarks on untimely births, mal-form- 
ations, &c. will generally apply to them. There 
may sometimes be this dijBference: Men occasional- 
ly lose their reason altogether* These become idi- 
ots by accident or misfortune, while others are born 
so, and are idiots by nature. Of such as lose their 
reason by disease or otherwise, it is evident that 
the date of their idiocy is equivalent to deaths—it is 
death to them— and in their resurrection (for they 
will be raised) they will doubtless have no remem- 
brance of the approach of deathi but their memory 
will fly back to that period of their former life 
which went next before their their loss of reason. 
And hence, if they were good men before they were 
demented, they will be good upon their restoration 
to reason; and if they were bad before, they will be 
bad when intellect is again restored to the throne. 
Hence the great importance of early preparation 
for the eternal world, as there are other causes than 
death which may forever bar us from the privilege 
' of conversion. 

§ II. Touching those heathen who never had the 
gospel preached to them— what may be their final 



ON IDIOTS AND PAGANS. 403 

destiny— is a matter involved in some uncertainty, 
and here, as before, there is no room to dogmatize. 
One thing is certain, that perfect and entire justice 
will be done them, and will be rendered according 
to the advantages under which they lived. It is cer- 
tain they will not be condemned for not hearing or 
having the gospel—- for, in the course of providence, 
it was never tendered to them. If condemned at 
all, the condemnation will come from another direc- 
tion, or another cause. May there not be such a 
thing as vice without blameworthiness? It is cer- 
tain, that "where there is no law, there is no trans- 
gression," and of course no condemnation. Now, 
we may suppose some of the heathen to be guilty 
of vice and idolatry — that is, of those actions which 
would be such under law, under light or knowledge 
— but having no revelation of the will of God, they 
must be excusable to a very great degree: they can 
by no means be punished for those vices, as they 
would were their circumstances changed, or if they 
clearly knew their several duties. This principle 
is fully illustrated by Jesus in one of his discourses 
to the Jews: 'If I had not done among them the works 
which no other man did, they had not had sin; but 
now have they both seen and hated both me and my 
Father... If I had not come and spoken unto them, 
they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak 
for their sin.'' a In proportion, then, as men are in- 
structed or have the means of knowing their duty, 
they are in the same degree responsible: of course, 
if any can be found who know nothing, or who have 
no means of knowing, they cannot and will not be 
a John IV. 22, 24. 



404 THE NEW LIGHT. 

held responsible for their actions. In another place 6, 
our Lord has beautifully illustrated this principle: 
"But he that knew not, and did commit things 
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For, 
unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be 
much required; and to whom men have commmit- 
ted much, of him they will ask the more." 

§ III. On these just, merciful, and very liberal 
principles we must reason in relation to the heath- 
en who know not God, and who at present cannot 
know him. We would not, however, wander be- 
yond sight of the Records of divine wisdom. Keep- 
ing this polar star within our horizon, we divide the 
heathen into two classes, those who are partially 
enlightened, and such as are in total darkness. 

(I) Of the first class Paul speaks thus — "As ma- 
ny as have sinned without law shall also perish with- 
out law, and as many as have sinned in the law 

shall be judged by the law in the day when 

God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.'^ c 
But some of the Gentiles having, by their philoso- 
phers or otherwise, obtained a partial illumination 
in relation to right and wrong, had become a law to 
themselves; and the fact that it was their habit in 
law-suits to implead one another, showed that they 
had sense enough of duty to condemn them if they 
did not observe the manifest justice of whose in- 
fraction they mutually complained. The plaintiff 
and defendant met in court, without any direct law 
of revelation: but it is manifest that if the plaintiff 
had a bill, or demand, or declaration against the de- 
fendant, such bill was supposed to be founded in 
b Luke xii. 48. c Rom. ii. 12—16. 



ON INFANTS, IDIOTS, AND PAGANS. 405 

justice; and if in justice, then said plaintiff would 
condemn himself if, in another case, he should act 
towards another as this defendant acts toward him. 
Whenever men ''accuse or excuse one another," the 
very fact shows in effect "the work of the law" of 
God ''written in their hearts," d and hy this con- 
science of right and wrong those men shall be 
judged. Justice is eternal and immutable, wheth- 
er found among heathen or christians, and men will 
be saved or perish according as they shall observe 
or disregard it, in the measure of its manifestation. 
C2) There are others of the heathen who are ia 
total, or almost total darkness; to whom neither the 
law of nature (as we call it) nor the law of God, 
has been revealed. These have no rule of moral 
action save that which arises necessarily among them 
as they traffic for food and gewgaws. They are 
like the beasts that perish. Some travelers assert 
that they have found certain islanders who had not 
even any idea of a Divine Intelligence! What 
may be the final destiny of these poor outcasts, is 
hard to say: but to me, the most probable opinion 
is, that they will not be tormented with everlasting 
pain; but that, never having known through life 
that there is a God, they will be suffered to sleep ia 
death for ever and ever. They will there be as 
though they never had been. If any shonld raise 
an objection to this, and say that this would be a 
hard fate in reference to them, I would most respect- 
fully ask, if there being at all, in this world, is not 
confessedly harder. Why should such multitudes 
of wretched beings be made to possess life at all? 

d Rom. ii. 15. 



406 THE NEW LIGHT. 

and why are the means of hope, of holiness, and of 
immortality, kept beyond their reach? Respecting 
all these things, we may say in the language of 
Paul, "O the depth of the riches both of the wis- 
dom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable 
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"e 
It appears to me, if he could, and be just and mer- 
ciful at the same time, allow myriads of such beings 
to come into the world and live to no purpose, he 
may, and be equally just and merciful, withhold 
from them afuture existence altogether. One thing 
is certain, they are not purified in this life, and if 
they are designed to be holy and immortal in the 
world to come, there must be some means of in- 
struction, of faith, of purification beyond the grave. 
Either this, or the accounting them on the footing of 
infants, must follow. We know nothing of any 
means of regeneration after death. 

§ IV. Situated as we are, knowing only in part, 
and having an exceedingly limited view of the uni- 
versal scheme of operations, it becomes us to be as 
modest as we are wanting in knowledge. Under 
these impressions I will offer a reflection or two by 
way of conclusion. 

It is certain that by one man's transgression the 
whole human race was plunged under miseries and 
death. Growing out of this fact are many questions 
which the profoundest intelligence of men cannot 
solve, or disinvolve from conclusions which might 
seem derogatory to the divne attributes. Yet, after 
all our reasonings, the stuborn fact still stands out, 
and the Bible still affirms that God is inflexibly just 
eRom.xi.33. 



ON INFANTS, IDIOTS, AND PAGANS. 407 

and supremely mercifuL This great fact, then, 
must teach us, that there is something in the divine 
nature which we do not understand, and even in 
the fact itself, perhaps, which we have not fathom- 
ed. And would it not, therefore, be improper for 
us to attempt to determine what it is in the divine na- 
ture which we do not understand? All our reason- 
ings must prove vain, and we are compelled to fall 
back upon the original fact to await the further light 
which God may give us by opening on our view the 
glories of the coming age. 

It is also certain, that by the labors of the apos- 
tles and primitive evangelists, the gospel was preach- 
ed to all the nations of the earth then known, per- 
haps, indeed, to every nation under heaven. Now 
it seems, that when the gospel, received by a nation 
for a time, is abused by that nation, it is not only 
taken away, but is seldom allowed to return. In 
this case, new generations arise in heathenism, and 
are plunged into idolatry and darkness by the deeds 
of their fathers. The whole land of Judea, togeth- 
er with nearly the whole East, is a melancholy ex- 
ample of this. Indeed, nearly all the nations to 
which the gospel was originally sent, have, by their 
own misconduct in reference to it, lost its saving 
blessings, its pure institutions, and the church is now 
seen rather as a flaunting harlot than as the modest 
spouse of Christ. In many places she has entirely 
disappeared, and either Mohamedism or heathenism 
has usurped her territories. Now, as human things 
are constituted, the fathers thus have power to engulf 
the children in moral ruin; and it ever must be so 



408 THE NEW LIGHT. 

till one of two things be done: — Either a constai>t 
miracle must be performed to save mankind from 
these deteriorations, or a moral revival unprecident- 
ed except by the ministry of the apostles must be 
made to prevail. Whether the one or the other 
will hereafter be done, is a matter that does not lie 
in my way to determine. One thing is evident, that 
heretofore, since the world began, posterity has 
been plunged into adversity by the improper con- 
duct of heads of families and nations. Revolutions 
come on in their turn; new governments are foun- 
ded, and these again are subverted, and thus the 
world, like the waves of the sea which cannot rest, 
rolls on; while the soul of the philanthropist cries 
out in pain, "When will the end be? and when 
shall man arise to the happiness of which his nature 
is capable?" 

Upon the whole, it seems to me that those heath- 
en whom God has thought proper to give over to ut- 
ter darkness in this world, to whom the gospel has 
never been sent, or from whom if sent it has been 
taken away, will perish in the day of Judgment. 
"They that have sinned without law, skall perish 
without law,'^ is the sentiment of Paul. They ap- 
pear to be the wastage of the human material: and 
why a better dispensation has been afforded to the 
rest of mankind, is a question whose solution must 
be sought at the throne of the Eternal himself. 

As for the wicked in gospel lands who hear and 
refuse to obey, they shall, if they continue in dis- 
obedience and die in sin, be raised up to "shame and 
everlasting contempt," as the prophet declares, or to 



ON INFANTS, IDIOTS, AND PAGANS. 409 

the "resurrection of damnation," in the language of 
Jesus. They "shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of his power.^' 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Secret Societies. 

Secret Societies Introduced, Masons, Odd Fellows, and Sons of 
Temperance — These Societies inconsistent — Their contracted 
schemes of Benevolence discountenanced by the Example of 
Christ and of the Primitive Christians — Conclusion. 

We have now approached a point of labor at 
which we shall be compelled to say some things 
which may give offence to several classes of read- 
ers. But truth being my aim, and to speak the 
truth my determination, I trust that those who are 
reasonable will concede to me the privilege they 
themselves take, of saying what I think though 
possibly it may be in opposition to their own views 
and sentiments. And will they hear me patiently? 
There are now in this country three different secret 
Societies, viz: the Free Masons, the Odd Fellows, 
and the Sons of Temperance. I shall not treat of 
these separately. My business lies with the princi- 
ples of these societies, not with the persons who may 
herd together according to the rules of the several 
orders. 



410 THE NEW LIGHT. 

These societies, it is presumed, all hold that there 
is some utility or advantage to be gained by their 
organizations: and this utility is active and effec- 
tive benevolence. By the laws of their order they 
are bound to take care of the widow and fatherless, 
to help their brethren' in necessitous circumstances, 
and, in a word, to minister as much as possible to 
the well being of their respective fraternities. They 
do not claim to be religious institutions, but moral 
and merciful ones, and admit to their mysteries 
those of all religions, and those of no religion at 
all. In this way they would reform and ameliorate 
the world. 

Here, then, at the out-set, I put in a plea for re- 
form and amelioration, predicated on the character 
of Jesus Christ as a Reformer and Regenerator: 
and the question is. Must he be followed in the great 
duties of life, or are we left to follow our own fan- 
cies, to make rules for ourselves, to originate socie- 
ties, to dig channels for our benevolence to flow in? 
I take the ground, that the very best way to reform 
men, is to follow Christ as a Reformer, and the best 
way to make our fellows happy, is to do them good 
in the way and manner prescribed by him. If there 
be a better way I would thank some Mason, or Odd 
Fellow, or Son of Temperance, to point it out so 
that the world at large may have the benefit of it. 

There are three organizations which may plead, 
some directly and some indirectly, the authority of 
Jesus Christ; — one is the christian churchy another the 
family circle^ and the last, the civil government or na- 
tional compact. The church he styles his own body, 



ON SECRET SOCIETIES, 411 

in which he offers salvation from sin to all who will 
in good faith join it. The family is headed by the 
parents, who are divinely authorized to rule it for 
the Lord, or in reference to his authority. The 
magistrate bears rule in civil matters by divine 
providence; for any form of government among 
men, by which in general the rights of men may be 
maintained, is better than none. For this reason, 
it is presumed, God makes it our duty to bfe subject 
to kings, or governors, or presidents, who for the 
time being are in authority. These are the only 
organizations which, as it appears to me, can claim 
to exist by divine right; but even civil government 
itself may be altered and remedied at the voice of 
the people, or by the force of revolutions. It is not 
of divine right merely because it is a government, 
but because it may be borne and be better than 
the infelicities of revolutions. Hence I conclude 
Ihereisno room legitimately left among men for 
the existence of other organizations, much less of 
secret societies that put all their light under beds 
or bushels where it cannot be seen. Such is not 
God's way of convincing and reforming mankind. 

But let us for a while contemplate Jesus as a Re- 
former and the Founder of a society. — You will 
perceive at once, that he taught no secret or mys- 
terious doctrines — that he was open, candid and free 
in all his intercourse with men — that he had noth- 
ing to conceal but every thing to disclose. If, as 
was sometimes the case, he taught his apostles in the 
absence of the multitude, he commanded them at 
the same time when occasion should offer, to 



412 THE NEW LIGHT. 

proclaim as from the house-top all he had spoken to 
them. He commanded them to follow him, and 
thej command us to follow them. It becomes the 
duty, then, of all who would follow him, to follow 
him, of course, in all those actions of his life in 
which, in the nature of the case, it is proper for 
him to be followed. We cannot follow him in the 
performance of miracles, in judging men's hearts, 
or in scourging merchants: but in all things pre- 
scribed in the gospel, we may, we must follow him if 
we would enjoy the salvation promised by him. Nor 
can we object that his example is too high and holy 
for us to immitate. We must follow him in the 
field, in the shop, in the family, in the public assem- 
bly, and in all the labors and journey of life. And 
if it was his habit to visit the Lodges of Free and 
Accepted Masons, or other mystic societies; if he 
joined in their gibberish, learned or taught their 
abracadabra^ or wore badges, belts and aprons; then 
we may follow him. But if he was guilty of none 
of these things, let Christians look well to it, lest 
they oiBTend him in fraternizing in such institutions. 
Itis very certain that all the labors performed by 
Jesus, and all the teaching he offered to his hearers, 
were done and offered in public, and that he appeal- 
ed to those labors and doctrines as publicly exem- 
plitied when he was apprehended and stood before 
the highpriest. "The highpriest then asked Jesus 
of his disciples and of his doctrine. And Jesus an- 
swered him, I spoke openly to the world; I ever 
taught in the synagogue and in the temple whither 
the Jew^s always resort; and in secret have I said 



ON SECRET SOCIETIES. 413 

NOTHING." a *'He refers of course to the labors of 
his whole life. He declars what means he did^ and 
what he? did not use in his attemps to benefit society, 
and reform and save men. All the ends he propos- 
ed, and the means by which they were to be reach- 
ed, were open, and the scrutiny of the world was 
constantly invited. There were no secret societies 
among Christ's disciples. Cabals, and conclave^ 
there were in their days; Venus had her mysteries, 
and Bacchus his orgies, and Jupiter his games; and 
these all had their processions, their badges, their 
signs of initiation, and degress of progress. But 
these were not of Christ, nor for Christ. Their 
pretended foundation was philosophy, and their 
professed end happiness and light. But their prac- 
tical working was fraud and imposition, superstition 
and lust. Every idol temple was a lodge-room, 
and every junto of pagan priests was a lodge, who 
amused the multitude by shows, pageants, and pro- 
cessions; attracted the philosophic by pretensions 
to wisdom; awed the superstitious by their mystic 
rites; gained money from all classes; and in the 
name of one god or another, gratified the appetites 
and ambition of cunning and corrupt leaders, while 
time bore generations to the tomb and to the judg- 
ment beyond it," b 

The better way to show the hollow-heartednessof 
these secret societies, is to compare them with the 
Christian Religion as it stands described on the pa- 
ges of the New Testament. 

The.benefits of the Christian Religion are offered 
to them that have no money: but the benefits of 
a John xviii. 20, 21 . b J. Blanchard's Discourse p. 7 . 



414 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



Masonry, Oddfellowship &c. are offered to such as 
can bring from two to twenty dollars! and those 
benefits will be continued so long as the weekly or 
monthly contributions are punctually paid. 

Christ received into his arms and into his church, 
young children, and blessed them through faith: 
those secret societies withhold their grace from 
''young men in nonage and old men in dotage." 

Men wishing to join the church, could take their 
wives with them: but these new-fangled communi- 
ties exclude females altogether as unworthy of their 
confidence. Any societies that act thus towards 
females are worthy of the dark ages, or of heath- 
enism, but unworthy the age in which we live. 

Old men, "narrative with age" and experience, 
were welcomed by Christ and his apostles into the 
church, and they found there a sweet home; but 
these secret orders tax and. virtually exclude them. 
^•A healthy young mechanic can become a Son of 
Temperance by pajing two dollars,'' but a man 
''fifty years old must pay half a dollar, and if above 
sixty, one dollar extra for each additional year; so 
that a convert to this institution who is 60 years old 
must pay eight dollars, and one who is 70 must pay 
^^ighteen to get into communion with the Sons of 
'I'emperance, which amounts to exclusion. '^ 

Christ's disciples, when it was not a time of per- 
secution, so that they could do so with safety, met 
with doors open to all comers, so that the ''unlearned'' 
and "unbelieving" might be 'convinced," and so 
falling down, worship God (1 Cor. xiv. 25.) But 
these secret conventicles meet with "closed doors 



ON SECRET SOCIETIES. 



415 



and shutters, with inside and outside sentinels, and 
members pledged to conceal what passes within." 

But let us look again. "The poor," said Christ, 
"ye always have with you.'' It is the way of prov- 
idence that some must suffer in this unfeeling world. 
"And as God has left the wretched among men to 
soften our hearts by pity and compassion, so he has 
determined to try and judge all men and all bodies 
of men, at last, by their dispositions and conduct 
towards the poor. So that if we judge" these pro- 
fessedly benevolent Societies "by the relation which 
they hold to the poor, wretched, and unfortunate, 
we try them by the same rule by which Christ will 
judge them at the last day, and of course by the 
same rule according to which he estimates them 



now.^'c 



Now, these secret Orders, for the most part, de- 
clare that "no person shall be admitted a member 
''who is^in any way^ incapacitated from earning a li-vc 
lihoodP' This rule excludes from the benetiis of 
the Orders all reformed drunkards, and others who 
are blind, halt, lame, maimed or palsied, or other- 
wise disabled. When Jesus had spread out all the 
benefits of his Order under the parable of a feast, 
(Luke xiv. 16,) he represents himself as the Master 
of the house saying to his servant, 'Go out quickly 
into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in 
hither the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind." 
And he gave to John's disciples as the crowning 
proof and glory of his Missiahship that, "/Ae poor 
had the gospel preached to ihemy 

But in selecting their members these secret Orders 
c See Mr. Blanchard's Discourse throughout. 



416 THE NEW LIGHT. 

proceed almost precisely on the same principles as 
the Negro-buyers of the South. The man-merchant 
selects the young, the vigorous, the hardy, and such, 
in one word, who are or will be able to produce 
money to the purchaser. Money, not benevolence, 
seems to be the principle alike in both cases. "Go- 
ing, goings gone!'' says the man with the hammer, 
as he knocks off a likely young Negfo to the high- 
est bidder: and "Coming, comings come!'' say these 
secret divans to such only as can put up the initiation 
fees and other accruing liabilities! 

And now, while we remember the abduction and 
death of the martyr Morgan who died without mercy 
by the hands of the sworn defenders of one of these 
Orders, let me say of all of them, in the language 
of the Patriarch — "O my soul, come not thou into 
their 5ecre/, and to their assembly mine honor be not 
thou united!" 



CHAPTER XXX. 
I. Op the Original. Creations 

5^ ew Subject Introduced*— Excellency of the Bible — Days of Ct&^ 
ation — No new genera or species of Animals — All animald 
"seek their kind; it is a law of Nature — No new Vegetables 
-since the first Creation— Plants and Men were made, did not 
^row, and this is the reason that no new kinds of either can ap- 
pear. — The Creation of Man — Of Man under Law — Of Man as 
Head of Creation, and how he might have reached Immortality 
— Of Man as fallen and Depraved — A Prayer of the Prophet 
Jeremiak. 

In the preceding pages we have redeemed ererjr 
pledge given in our Preface^ but one; and before 
bringing our labors to a close it will be necessary to 
investigate the remaining subject, that is, to make 
some inquiry into the origin of the Negro Race, and 
to investigate the kindred subject of Abolitionism. 
To these subjects we now come, and, holding up 
the ancient and venerable Book, the Bible, as our 
only guide in this case as well as in all others, we 
propose to be governed by what it says or implies 
in reference to the topics before us. And, that we 
may approach the subject understandingly, we shall 
devote a chapter, in the first place, to the contem- 
plation of the original creation, that is, the consti- 
tution of the earth, the different classes of animals, 
the various kinds of vegetable organizations, and 
the laws by which all things are governed in their 
distinct classes, and preserved from intermixture. 

The Bible is the only book which gives us any 

satisfactory account of the beginning of the world; 

and this piece of knowledge is infinitely valuable 

to the man of a considerate mind, as it settles hii 

27 



41S THE NEW LIGHT. 

thoughts upon the creative energy of JehoTafii. 
And so soon as the name and nature of God are 
announced, as eternal and incomprehensible, the 
mind resolves every unknowable mystery and every 
incomprehensible fact or truths into his high coun- 
sels and universal government. We cannot think 
clearly of a being who never began to be, and it is 
yet more difficult to account for the beginning of 
the world without a Beginner, than to believe in an 
underived Creator of all things. It is impossible to 
believe that the world is eternal; for this would con- 
tradict our senses and thwart the inevitable tenden- 
cy of our minds in search of final -causes, iiencc^ 
the only satisf[ictory conclusion is, that God made 
this earth, and finished it about six thousand years 
ago. 

What may have been the length of the six peri- 
ods or days in which Jehovah was employed in elab- 
orating and separating the several elements of na- 
ture, w^e have no means of knowing with absolute 
certainty: one thing is certain that each of those 
periods had its evening and morning before the cre- 
ation of the sun and moon. And whether our pres- 
ent world be the wreck of a previous one, or made 
of matter that had no existence till God called ^for 
it on the first day of creation, is a question which 
does not lie in our way at present. One thing is 
certain, that, fronr abounding darkness light was 
called and gleamed over the face of universal beings 
and beauty and order, by successive stages, arose 
out of chaos and confusion. And when the great 
machinery of heaven and earth began to move, it 



ON THE ORIGINAL CREATION. 419 

moved harmoniously, and God himselCi, contenfipla- 
ting every part, was pleased with the whole system 
and pronounced it "very good." 

At this point we pause to admire the order or 
economy which Jehovah imposed upon the vegeta- 
ble and animal kingdoms — and, indeed, upon min- 
erals and upon all things in heaven and earth. He 
has thus proved himself to be the God of order and 
harmony ;~and even to this day, notwithstanding 
the many changes under which the earth has passed, 
there remain unbroken traces of the original order, 
and proofs abundant, that in the beginning, all 
things must have been as described by Moses the 
divine historian. 

Though all animals were made of the same orig- 
inal material, dust, yet how different were they in 
genus and species! Each one is impressed with its 
own peculiar habit or instinct, as well as with its 
own form, color, size, shape, or power of locomo- 
tion. Here is one at so great an extreme from an- 
other, that they cannot possibly form any thing like 
an union for any object or end: but betvv^een these 
extremes there are a thousand degrees, at each de- 
gree is a distinct^ animal resembling its neighbor, 
but between them is interposed an impassable bar- 
rier which forever divides them. V/hile all possess 
the power and attribute of procreating and m.ulti- 
, plying their species, they will not inlerm.ix, they 
will not run into each other and destroy the origi- 
nal genus and species. The male and female of 
each distinct class assort together by an impulse of 
nature, and by the same impulse avoid the degree of 



420 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



resemblance nearest them as infallibly as the most 
distant. Thus, to the present advanced state of 
the world, there remain the original number of dis- 
tinct genera and specif's as at the beginning. Not 
anew order of animals has arisen, or can arise out 
of the earth. But man who has sought out many 
inventions, has it in his power to mingle the blood of 
several distinct species which closely resemble each 
other. Animals of the horse kind, for instance, 
may be made to mix, and the existence of rmdes 
shows the degeneracy of both species. But eyerj 
such mixture is contrary to the laws and impulses of 
nature, and to the law of God. Other animals sim- 
ilar in shape, size, and conformations, and similar 
also in the time of gestation, may be forced to the 
production of monsters; but from the beginning, 
and by nature, the thing was not so. Man will be 
held accountable for these perversions of nature, 
for these low and grovelling modes of acquiring 
money. If he will not be taught by the beasts 
themselves, the judgments of God will teach him to 
his cost that the course of pure nature is not to be 
violated with impupity. 

Similar remarks may be made r^especting the veg- 
etable kingdom. Every plant and tree grows up 
from the ground, by the same process, and yet how 
different are they as to size, foliage, medicinal vir- 
ture, and the fruit produced at the several seasons! 
From the very same soil, while the roots of each 
intertwine with those of the other, plants the most 
dissimilar are produced, the one loaded with lus- 
cious and life-sustaining /ruit, and the other with 



ON THE ORIGINAL CREATION. 421 

poison and pregnant with death. Hence, too, it is 
impossible for any new species of plants or trees to 
arise out of the ground, because God made only so 
many and placed barriers between all the genera 
and species. There is not room in nature for a 
new plant or a new animal. The ground is taken 
up, and nature can produce only according to the 
original impulse imparted to her by her Creator 
and Upholder. It is true, that one tree, by the art 
of man, may be made to grow, by innoculation, in 
the branch .and by the sap of another; but this 
does by no means produce either a new tree or new 
fruit. Engrafting is nothing more than taking an 
advantage of time in the production of fruit, so that 
we may get, in a few years, that which without this 
art, would have required many. Nature is wonder- 
ful in all her ways: and the above is glorious proof 
that there is a God who conformed her at the first 
to his will — that a blind chance presides not in her 
councils, else there had been perhaps a new species 
of plants and a new genus of animals for every 
year of the world's history. 

While on this theme it is proper to carry our re- 
marks to another point. Moses is very careful to 
inform us that the first trees and plants did not 
grow from seeds, but were made with their seeds in 
them after their kind, and that the seeds thus pro- 
duced became the means of subsequent plants. In 
the nature of things there had to be a plant that 
there might be seed: so that the history of Moses 
accords with common sense and sound philosophy. 
And so, exactly, it was with the animal creation: 



432 THE PfEW LIGHT* 

parents had to exist before the progeny, or that there 
might be progeny. The first animals, therefore^ 
did not grow up from helpless young to strong ma- 
turity; they were made at maturity as the patri- 
archs ands ource of all the rest. The same is true of 
man the great master and monarch of the primitive 
creation. Had he been produced an infant, it would 
have required a constant miracle to support and pre- 
serve him: but an infant implies parents. The first 
man, for this reason, was made, not born, and his 
nature, by creation, and in its way, was provided 
with the facilities of multiplication throughout all 
time, as well as the plants and trees of the field. 

We must now turn our attention m6re particu- 
larly to man at his creation, and contemplate him 
as a pure and holy being in covenant with God his 
Father. — To the production of this noble being the 
Almighty summoned, as it were, a divine council. 
After the creation of all the inferior animals, and 
after the world was fully fitted up and prepared for 
its distinguished guest and future Lord, ''God said, 
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; 
and let /Aem have dominion over the fish of the sea, 
and over the foul of the air, and over the cattle, and 
over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 
that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man 
in his own image; in the image of God created he 
him; male and female created he them: and God 
blessed them, and God said unto them. Be fruitful,, 
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue 
it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and 
over the foul of the air^ and over every living thing 



ON THE ORIGINAX CREATION. 423 

thatinovelh upon the earth/' a — Such is the gener- 
al account. In the second chapter of Gensis the 
account of the creation of Adam is repeated, with 
that of Eve also, and the manner of her creation. 
Thus blessed with the society of each other, our 
royal progenitors are placed in a delightful garden 
^•to dress it and to keep it/' Here a covenant is 
made with them, and they are placed under law. 
*'And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely 
€at: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that 
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." b That 
this command was also given to the woman, is plain 
from what follows in the account of the temptation 
and fall. We need not argue this point. 

Here, then, we behold Man placed at the head 
and over the whole world and its numerous tribes of 
.beasts, birds, fishes, and insects. He is placed but 
a little lower than the angels and is crowned with 
glory and honor. ''O Lord, our Lord," exclaims 
the sweet singer of Israel, "how excellent is thy 
name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above 
ihe heavens! What is man that thou art mind- 
ful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him!* 
For thou hast made him a littie lower than the an- 
gels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. 
Thou madst him to have dominion over the works of 
thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 
all sheep and oxen, and the beasts of the field, the 
fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and what- 
soever passeth through the paths of the seasi O 
a Gen. i. 26, 28. b ii. 16, 17, 



42i: THE NEW LIGHT* 

Lord, OUT Lord, how excellent is thy namq in ali tfee 
earth f^ c * 

**Wben from the dust thou call' dst our raee» 
Thy word pronounced them good;. 

One niche below an angel's place 
Our prime forefather stood." 

Placed thus under covenant or law^ it was folly 
put in the power of man to enjoy a most perfect 
liberty, and enjoy it for ever. Without law there 
can be no rational liberty; and by perfect law there 
is perfect liberty. This law was the easiest that 
could have been imposed on man under the circum- 
stances, and was therefore perfect in its kind and 
exactly fitted to produce the greatest amouiit of 
good. For had Adam been left wholly without 
law, he would have been wholly without any means- 
of knowing whether he was faithful or unfaithfuL 
All rational beings mu«t have this knowledge, or 
they cannot have rational and mora] enjoyment. 

Under this divine constitution, head and monarch 
of the world, Adam is commanded to multiply and 
replenish the earth with human beings, which, of 
course, would be as much in the divine image as he 
himself. It seems to have been ike will and inten- 
tion of Jehovah that the human race should multi- 
ply and fill the earth without a sin, without a deaths 
and by births easy, pangless, and perhaps even 
pleasureable to the mothers of mankind. Obedi- 
ence to an assigned point on the part of Adam,, 
would have secured immortality to himself and to 
all his race. What a glorious state of things would 
this have been! Daughters and sons as fair as Rve 
eP». viii. passicDL. 



ON THE ORIGINAL CREATION. 425 

and as noble as Adam would have dwelt on all the 
face of the earth and filled the glorious planet with 
multitudes as happj as they were numerous. The 
tearless infant would have been pleased all the day 
without a rattle; fathers and mothers would have 
been without a care for the honor and safety of sons 
and daughters; and slaughtering armies would have 
been a conception impossible to the minds of inno- 
cent immortal beings. For every son there would 
have been a daughter, for every Adam an Eve, on- 
wards and for ever through the lapse of intermina- 
ble ages. And so pure and refined would aflfection 
at last have become, that each could love all with 
the same fervor that Jesus our Lord loved the race 
when fallen and destroyed. Thus, then, there was 
a way to the ht aven of heavens from the original 
pardise. But, alas, that way is now closed for ever! 
But thanks to God, there is another way by the 
blood of Jesus through the grave! All is not yet 
lost irretriveably. Let Hope arise and climb the 
hill of God where Jesus has gone to prepare our 
habitation! 

But the original order and design of God in rela- 
tion to man were broken and frustrated. His will 
touching the immortality of man without death, was 
not accomplished. Man broke covenant with God 
an4 brought death upon himself and all his poster- 
ity; filled the world with diseases innumerable; 
poisoned the life of every enjoyment; and enthron- 
ed the Monarch Death upon skulls, rottenness, and 
corruption! We must now mourn over man as a 
sinner ready to perish; as an abuser of his own na- 



426 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



ture ; as a poor sighing pauper and bankrupt; as a 
prisoner led away to execution. Ah me! what a 
horrid, what a revolting picture is this! '^O that 
my head were w^aters and mine eyes a fountain of 
tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain 
of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the 
wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I 
might leave my people and go from them! for they 
are all adultereis, an assembly of treacherous men! 
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: 
but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; 
for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know 
not me, saith the Lord." d ^ 



CHAPTER XXXL 
II. Of the Image of God in which Man 

WAS CREATED. 

j^xone can draw an Image of God but Himself — Twelve Scrip- 
tures that mention the Image of God — These Scriptures con- 
sidered — Six points deduced from them — The Image of God 
in Christ threefold — The Image of Christ in Man threefold — 
The Image in both cases, Natural, Moral, and Political.— Con- 
clusion. 

God most expressly commnnded the Jewish peo- 
ple when he had brought them out of Egypt, that 
they should not make for themselves any graven 
inrKige, or any likeness of any thing that is in heav- 
b Jer. ix. 1, 3. 



ON THE IMAGE OF GOD. 427 

en above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is 
in the water under the earth; and that thej should 
not bow down to such images, nor serve them, c 
The4'e may have been two reasons for this. One 
was, that idolatry is absurd and ridiculous in itself, 
and the Vvhole sum of human sin: the other, that 
the makers of the images of heavenly beings could 
not be depended on as correct designers or artisans, 
as they would be compelled to sketch more from 
imagination than from any other source. And if 
they could not be depended on to sketch the linea- 
ments of an angel who may sometimes be seen 
among men, how much more abortive must be the 
attempt when they would draw the image of God 
himself? Hence there is none in heaven or earth 
except God himself who is able to set forth his im- 
age or likeness. And this has been done by his 
own power. 

Where, thert, shall we find the image of God? 
To answer this question it will be neccessary to 
quote pretty liberally from the Holy Scriptures of 
the New Testament; ffom which quotations it will 
appear with all desirable clearness, that Jesus 
Christ is the Image or Likeness of God. Will 
the reader have natience to read the followinp;? 

(a) ^'Let this mind be in you which was also in 
Christ Jesus, who,, being in the form of God, 
thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but 
made himself of no reputatioir, and took upon him 
the form of a servant and was made in the likeness 
of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he 
humbled himself and became obedient unto deaths 
even the death of the cross." b 
a Ex. XX. 4,5. bPhil.ii. 6,7. 



42S THE NEW LIGHT. 

(b) "For whom he did foreknow" — that is, whom 
he acknowledged formerly, or in past ages — "he also 
did predestinate to be conformed to the image op 
HIS SoxN, that he might be the first born among ma- 
ny brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called; and whom he called, them he 
also justified; and whom he justified, them he also 
glorified." c 

(c) "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the 
Second Man is the Lord from heaven. As is the 
earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as 
is the heavenly, such are they also that are heaven- 
ly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, 
we shall also bear the imge of the heavenly. 
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can- 
not inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth cor- 
ruption inherit incorruption." d 

(d) "Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the 
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, 
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of 
the Lord, are changed into the same image from 
glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'^c' 

(e) "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them 
that are lost. In whom the god of this world hath 
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest 
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is 
the image of God, should shine unto them.^'y 

(f) God — "Who hath delivered us from the pow- 
er of darkness, and hath translated us into the king- 
dom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemp- 
tion through his blood, the forgiveness of sins: 
who is the image of the invisible God, the first 

c Rom. viii. 29, 30. d 1 Cor. xv. 49, 50. e 2 Cor. iii. 18. f iv. 4. 



ON THE IMAGE OF GoD. 429 

born of every creature— -For by him were all things 
created,'' &c. g 

(e:) "But now ye also put off all these; anger, 
wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out 
of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing 
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and 
have put on the new man who is renewed in knowl- 
edge AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM that Created him." h 

(h) God "hath in these last days spoken unto 

us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all 
things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, be- 
ing the brightness of his glory, and the express 
IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, and Upholding all things by 
the word of his power, when he had hy himself 
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the 
Majesty on High." i 

(i) "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteous- 
ness. I shall be satisfied when I awake w^ith thy 
likeness." k 

(k) "If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord 
will make myself known unto him in a vision, and 
will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses 
is not so, who is faithful in all my house. With 
him I W'ill speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, 
and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of 
the Lord shall he behold." / 

(1) ^'And when he had spoken such words unto me, 
I set my face toward the ground and became dumb. 
And, behold, one like the similitude of the son 
OF man touched my lips: then I opened my mouth 
and spoke, and said unto him that stood before me, 

g Col. i. 15. h Col. iii, 10. i Heb. I 2, 3. k Ps. ivii. 15. 
INumb.xli. 7, 8. 



430 THE NEW LIGHT. 

O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned up- 
on me, and I have retained no strength. "m 

(m) '^But the tongue can no man tame: it is an un- 
ruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we 
God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men 
who are made after the similitude of God." n 

From the foregoing passages we deduce the fol- 
lowing points: 

1, That in his antecedent state, or before he came 
in the flesh, the Son or Logos of God v/as the like- 
ness, similitude, or image of the Divine Person of 
the Father, In that state he "was in the form of 
God." h\ that state Moses and Daniel saw him. 
Sec the passages marked a, k^ and /, in the preceding 
list, 

2, That before he came in the flesh a.s our Messi- 
ah, the Son or Logos of the Father held the same 
form or shape that his flesh assumed when he put on 
our nature and appeared as a man among men. Be- 
fore he took the likeness of sinful flesh upon him, 
he appeared to the prophets "like the similitude of 
t!ie sons of men." The case, then, stands thus: In 
his pre existent state he was like God, or in his 
form and similitude, and at the same time like man 
in respect to shape or appearance: so that, after he 
came in the flesh he reflected the likeness of both 
God and man. 

3^, That in his pre-existent state and form of God, 
which form was also the similitude of man, he was 
the medium or power mediatorial by which God 
made all things. The Son or Logos was the ex- 
press image of God's person, and :\dam was fashion- 
mDan.x.,16. n James iii. 8, 9. 



ON THE IMAGE OF GOD. 431 

ed after the likeness of the Logos or Son of God. 
The first man, therefope, was the image of God's Im- 
age. Christ once said to the Jews, "Before Abra- 
ham was, I am:" and it is equally true that before 
Adam was, the Divine Savior existed in the form or 
likeness of God; in which form or likeness Adam 
was made in due time. When, then^ Adam was 
made of the dust, he resembled in shape, size, and. 
other attributes, the unincarnate Wprd who had 
made all things; and v^^hen the Word himself put 
on human flesh, that flesh was the exact resemblance 
of his antecedent nature, in shape or form, size, and 
every attribute, just as the flesh of Adam was when 
it was first made from its virgin earth. 

4, The Divine Nature itself is not without ybrm. 
But, circumstanced and endued as we are, we are 
incapable of demonstrating the form of spirits. 
God has seen proper to tell us that his Son is bis 
express image, and that he was so before the incai- 
nation; and prophets and lawgivevs having seen 
him in the antecedent state, testify that he appeared 
to them in the similitude of men. So to speak, God 
has sent his shadow out of the spiritual world and 
formed an imaoje of his person here from the very 
dust. When we shall become fully spiritual, we 
shall be able to see him, and then we shall "behold 
the beauty of the Lord;"o then shall "the beauty 
of the Lord be upon U3;"j) and then we shall ex- 
claim with joy, "How great is his goodness, and 
how great is his beauty ["g- 

5, That man, having to some extent lost the im- 
age of God in which he was created, having caused 

o Ps. xxvii. 4. Ps. xc. 17, q Zcch. ix, 17. 



432 



THE NEW LIGHT. 



himself to bear another simihtude, the gospel of 
our salvation is instituted and proclaimed in order 
that the lost image may be restored. And it is re- 
stored practically to the saints in this life. They 
are renewed by the knowledge of God after the 
image of their Creator: and when the time shall 
fully come for the perfection of his saints, having 
been made to bear the image of a dishonored head, 
they shall, by the power of the Lord, be made for 
ever to bear the image of their heavenly Leader, 
and shall be satisfied for ever when they awake with 
with his likeness. 

6, That, finally, man appears to have been crea- 
ted after the natural, moral, and political Image of 
God. Bear in mind that his Son was, before the 
incarnation, this natural, moral, and political image. 
He was the image of his person, of his goodness, 
mercy, righteousness, truth, and of his authority in 
reference to matters of dominion and government. 
In the Logos and by him, this three-fold image of 
the Eternal was reflected through all the ranks of 
intellectual and moral beings down to man in the 
garden of Eden. And when man appeared, he 
shone in the image of the Logos or Word that con- 
versed withhim-^he became the natural, moral, and 
political image of the Son, as the Son was of the 
Father. 

1, The natural Image. Adam was made in the 
likeness of the person of God's Image. Why had 
he one special shape or form rather than another? 
Why did he possess one color rather than another, 
or rather than all colors together? Why was Ad- 



ON THE IMAGE 01^ GOD. 433 

nm possessed of specific size rather than of anj 
size or all sizes? These questions carry us up to 
the wisdom and sovereignty of God, who made man 
in form, size and color as best suited the reasons of 
his infinite intelligence. Adam was made in the 
Image of God, and the Image of God was his unin- 
carnate Word or Son. 

2, The moral Image. Man was made upright; 
he was good; he was hoi v; his whole character re- 
sembled the character of God's divine Image. There 
was not the taint of sin upon the pure surface of 
his heart, not a cloud of guilt to alarm his fears. 
Perfectly pure, he was as happy as the laws of his 
being and the nature of his circumstances could 
make him. What a glorious creature, then, was 
the first man, all beautiful in person and all inno- 
cent and holy in character. 

3, The political Image. Adam was made head, 
lord, and king, or monarch of universal nature. As 
the Son had glory in the presence of the Father 
^•before the world was," a political glory, a domin- 
ion over all angels and over all worlds; as he was 

•the ruler of all rulers in. the spiritual realm, and all 
spirits delighted to obey him; as he was infinitely 
rich and infinitely honorable, and eternally beloved; 
so x\dam was made like him in this respect; for we 
find him promoted to the empire of the world, of 
heaven, earth, and seas. And thus in him a mini- 
ature view of God himself is bodied forth on earth, 
natural, moral, political. 

But that we may begin more openly to approach 
the subject before us, it will be necessary to pay a 
28 



434 THE NEW LIGHT. 

greater attention to the natural appearance of the 
first man. Having already contemplated him as 
the image or representative of the Image or Rep- 
resentative of God on the earthy we v^ould deter- 
mine, if we could, his personal appearance, whether 
he was black, white, yellow, or green — We would 
ascertain these matters with clearness; for they are 
important in the disquisitions to which we are about 
to come. For the present, however, we give the 
reader a little respite till we commence another 
chapter. But bear in mind, that you must keep 
down your prejudices if you would know and be 
profited by the truth. 



CHAPTER XXXH. 

HI. Of thf Color op Adam and the Ante- . 

DILUVIANS. 

Color of Adam Important— The Color was Carnation, as the Name 
imports — Antediluvians proved to have been /aiV, from the 
Fair Women mentioned as the Mothers of Giants— Succeeding 
Patriarchs were white men— ^History of the White Blood from 
Adam to Christ — Christ was therefore White — Proved by Scrjp^ 
ture — Proved by the Epistle of Publius Lentulus to the Roman 
Senate — Concluding Remarks. 

But why do you attempt to write upon a subject 
of this kind? asks the inquisitive reader. What im- 
portance is there in knowing any thing aboijit the 



ON TEE COLOR O^ THE ANTEDILtJVIANS. 435 

-color of the primitive man? To which I will reply 
in brief, that there is importance in knowing every 
thing that ought to be known, or that may be known 
without sin. Besides, I think that our heavenly 
Father has not been wholly indifferent respecting 
colors upon the things he made. Look up into the 
clear blue sky! Does it not exhibit such a color as 
God made for it? Did you ever notice the Rain- 
bow, that glorious arch drawn athwart the heavens 
as it were a resting place for angeh as they ascend 
and descend? How gorgeous and glorious are its 
colors! Indeed, what would it be without them? 
Could it be at all? Its colors are its chief beauties. 
And had color nothing to do ,with the appearance 
and glory of the Man that God made? And if God 
saw proper to make him exhibit one particular col- 
or, shall we say that that particular color is not an 
attribute of his nature? 

Permit me, then, to say, that from all the evidence 
before me in the Bible, x\dam was what we term a 
white man, or, that he was not a black man--^he 
was not a Negro. I have two ways of proving this; 
first, by the meaning of the term adam^ with the 
history of the people before the flood: secondly, by 
the history of Jesus Christ the Second Adam, of 
whom we may say with confidence that he was fair 
and not black. 

And first, of the meaning of the term, and of the 
history of the Antediluvians. 

The word Adam not only means that which is ta- 
ken from the earth, or earthy, which might be true 
ef any color; but it conv^eys the idea of redishness 



436 THE HEW LIGHTS 

0r floridity. To say all in a word, the term imports 
what we mean by the word Jlesh-color or carnation^ 
And such was the color of Adam. Imagine to your- 
self the fairest person you have ever seen, a person in 
perfect health and'in blooming youth; and you would 
doubtless have a tolerably good conception of the 
complexion of our royal progenitor. Think of him, 
then, with exterior beauty adorned as well as his 
mind was pure, standing in his bower of a serene 
night and adoring the Maker of the bright stars in 
the firmament above him, while Eve leans on hm 
arm and partakes of the heavenly joy: 

"These are thy glorious works parent of good ! 
Almighty! thine this universal frame, 
Thus wondrous fair! Thyself how wondrous then! 
^ Who sits above these heav'ns invisible, 

Or dimly seen in these thy glorious works !'* 

This view is confirmed by some incidents in the 
history of the antediluvians. Take the following : 

''And it came to pass when men began to multi- 
ply on the face of the earth, and daughters were 
born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daugh- 
ters of men that they were .fair; and they took 
them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord 
said. My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for 
that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred 
and twenty years. There were giants in the earth 
in those days; and also after that, when the sons of 
God married the daughters of «ien, and they bare 
children unto them; the same became mighty men, 
who were of old, men of .renown.'^ a 

Now we will not stop to eng[uire who those sons of 
a Gen. vi. 1---4. 



ON THE COLOR OF THE ANTEDILUVIANS. 437 

God were, whether good and pious men, or people 
of a heavenly and distinct race — for, so far as our 
argument is concerned, it is no matter which,* 
Our attention is directed to what is here incidental- 
ly asserted of those women: they are called fair, 
which is proof positive that the people before the 
flood were of the same color with Adam their fath- 
er, and Eve their mother. The daughters of men 
were fair. We will suppose, however, that all the 
daughters of men in those days had been as black 
as ebony, as black as full-blooded negroes; would 
the historian, in giving an account of them, have 
called them fair, however beautiful in other re- 
spects they may have been? We cannot say of the 
neatest negress in all the land that she is fair. She 
has neither fair hair nor fair skin. But when we 
remember that Adam^s children were ''in his own 
likeness and after his image," all of them as well as 
Seth, we need argue no farther to establish the prop- 
osition before us. The people before the flood were 
such as we would call white people. No one can 
successfully dispute this. 

It becomes proper from this point to bring the ar- 
gument through the ark of Noah into the new world, 
where we will find that the succeeding Patriarchs 
and all their children were white — the sons ruddy 
and the daughter FAIR. It would, indeed, seem to 
be enough for our purpose to say simply that Noah 

* The meaning of tKis passage appears to be, that good men in 
those days were enticed by wicked but lair women, as many a 
good man has since been ; and that the issues from these ill-advis- 
ed marriages were giants both in person and in wickedness. Im- 
proper marriages became thus the principal causes of these drend- 
inl corruptions. 



436' TH'E NKW LISHT*. 

and his family belonged to the antediluvian raee al- 
ready proved to have been a race of whites. But 
for the sake of the reader we will glance through 
the history of subsequent Patriarchs,. 

Abram said to his wife Sarai as they were com- 
ing into Egypt, "Behold now, I know that thou art 
B. fair woman to look upon,'^ (Gen. xii. 11.) Re- 
bekah was a virgin "very fair io look upon. (Gen. 
xxiv. 16.) Tamar, sister of Absalom it is said^.. 
was fair^ (2 Sam. xiii* 1.) Abishag the Shunamite^ 
was a fair damsel, (I Kings i. 2.) Vashti, queen of 
King Ahasuerus, wa& beautiful, "and fair to look 
qn.'^ (Est. i. 11.) Esther the captive maid, "was- 
fair and beautiful." (Est. ii. 7.) "And in all the 
land were no women found so fair as the daughters 
Job.'^ (Job xlii. 15;) So much for the women^ 
Have we any thing to say of the men? When Da- 
vid was brought in before Samuel to be anoinled 
King, the historian says of him, "He was rt^c/rf^, and 
withal, of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to 
look on.'' (1 Sam. xvi. 12.) Goliath made the same 
remark when David gave him duel — When he "saw 
David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth^ 
and Tuddy^ and of el fair countenance." (If Sam. xviio 
42.) Jeremiah bitterly mourning over Jerusalem 
fallen and captive, says of her Nazarites in view of 
what they had been before the captivity, ''Her Naz- 
arites were purer than snow, they were whiter than 
milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies,'^ 
(Lam. iv. 7*) 

Such were the people, "m ioc??/," male and female^, 
firomwhom descended the Lord Jesus Christ, thes 



ON THE COLOR OF THE PATRIARCHS. 439 

Son of the ruddy and fair David. Hence Solomon 
in his Poem styled the Canticles, makes the lover of 
the Beloved say, "My Beloved is white and ruddy, 
the chiefest among ten thousand." To which is ad- 
ded, "His head is as the most tine gold — his eyes 
are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, 
washed with milk, and fitly set — His cheeks are as a 
bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, 
dropping sweetsmelling myrrh." (Cant. v. 10 — 16. 

We are naturally led, by the above passage, to 
the second source of evidence to which allusion has 
been already made, the history of the Messiah. 

It is somewhat singular that the Evangelists who 
have written memoirs of Christ, never, so far as I 
remember, gave the most distant hint as to the size 
or figure of his person. It was not with this, indeed, 
that mankind were interested, so much as with his 
holy character and the saving work he performed. 
Neverthless, to the clue above given from the old 
Testament, (which in itself seems satisfactory,) we 
may add a testimony from profane hisiory. I find it 
in Paul Wright's Life of Christ published many 
years ago, now an old book and nearly out of print. 
I suppose it may be found in other works of the 
kind. The author introduces the testimony after 
the following preface: 

"We shall here subjoin a copy of a letter sent by 
Publius Lentulus, governor of Judea, to the Senate 
of Rome, respecting the person and actions of our 
blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; which may 
serve as a strong testimony and evidence in favor 
of the divinity of our Lord's person and doctrines. 



440 THE NEW LIGHT. 

against the stale objections of the deists, as the ais- 
thenticity of the ancient manuscripts from which it 
was translated, is founded ou the best authority. 
Tiberius Cassar was then Emperor, and caused the 
extraordinary intelligence contamed in this letter to 
be published throughout all the Roman provinces. 
One would have thought this confirmation issued by 
the Roman governor, might have convinced the gen- 
erality of the Romans, as well as Jews, concerning 
the divinity of our Lord's mission: but such was 
the universal prejudice of the people, that nothing 
would satisfy those who had not given credit to the 
words of Christ himself." 

Our design in the calling up of this Epistle again, 
is, as the reader will see, to prove not our Lord's 
divinity and mission particularly, but to prove, be- 
sides, that he was fair and ruddy^ like David his pro- 
genitor. Let the Epistle of Lentulus follow:— 

"There appeared in these our days, a man of great 
virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet living among 
us, and of the Gentiles is accepted as a prophet of 
truth, but by his own disciples called the Son of 
God. He raiseth the dead, and cureth all manner 
of diseases. A man of stature somewhat tall, and 
comely, with a very reverend countenance, such as 
the beholders may both love and /ear. His hair is of 
the color of a filbert full ripe, and plain almost down 
to his ears, but from his ears downward, somewhat 
curled, more orient of color, and waving about his 
shoulders. In the midst of his head goeth a seam 
or partition of his hair, after the manner of the 
Nazarites: his forehead werj plain and smoothe; hi§ 



ON THE COLOR OF THE ANTEDILUVIANS. 441 

face without spot or wrinkle, beautified with comely 
red; his nose and mouth so formed as nothing can 
be reprehended; his beard somev\^hat thick, agree- 
able in color to the hair of his head, not of any 
great length, but forked in the midst; of an inno- 
cent mature look; his ejes grej^, clear, and quick. 
In reproving he is terrible; in admonishing, courte- 
ous and fair spoken; pleasant in speech, mixed with 
gravity. It cannot be remembered that any have 
seen him laugh, but many have seen him weep. In 
proportion of body, well shaped and straight; his 
hands and arms right delectable to behold; in speak- 
ing, very temperate, modest, and wise. \ man for 
singular beauty, surpassing the children of men." 6 
If, however, the reader should insist that the 
above is but a Catholic legend, we might give it 
upas such without any peril to our argument: for 
we have fully proved, that the line of ancestry, 
from Adam to Moses, fiom Moses to David, and 
from David to Jesus, male and female, was a line of 
white and fair people. This being proved, all is 
proved that we think essential to the argument. 
We solicit the reader to accompany us another 
step. But this will form the subject of the next 
chapter. 

b Vita Christi, p. 266, 



CHAPTER XXXI 11. 
IV. Human Blood has been corrupted in 

SOME NATIONS. 

Human nature has been tainted in Blood in some nations, as well 
as in spirit in all — Argument fr<om the Law of Moses — Argu- 
ment from Paul's Account of the Vices of the Heathen — Argu- 
ment from the Progression of Evil as exhibited by the Metaiic 
Image of Nebuchadnezzar — Argument from the Prophecies in 
general — Conclusion. 

That the spirit, mind, or soul of man, has been 
corrupted by the wiles and treachery of some for- 
eign enemy — that this enemy is the Devil or the 
great Adversary of God and man — and that this cor- 
ruption of the mind happened at a very early peri- 
od of human history — are sentiments admitted by a 
large majority of believers in the Bible. Some mod- 
ern skeptics, indeed, (among whom are the more 
ultra of the school of Universalism,) have asserted*^ 
that the soul or thinking principle in man never 
was and cannot be corrupted by sin. But it is not 
worth while to meet these carping spirits by an at- 
tempt at argument, as all argument drawn from the 
Bible can have no influence on a set of men who 
have long since determined that "they will not be- 
lieve it. It will suffice to say, that sin, in the first 
place, could corrupt no other part of man than his 
spirit or soul. Sin is the transgression of law; and 
the rational, thinking, and moral part of our nature 
only has reference to law. And when the soul, 
the mind, the thinking and moral principle, became 
corrupt, the contagion spread to the body or fleshy 
as a matter of course. And thus, as we have said? 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOO&i 443 

the major part of Christians have believed in all 
ages since the introduction of the gospel. 

Now, ifthe spirit or soul of man could be imbued 
with a foreign, and not human, but a demoniacal 
nature— if it has been made to partake of that na- 
ture—and if those who are supremely under the in- 
fluences of this' foreign spirit, are called "children 
of the wicked one," "children of the Devil," &c.; 
may not a foreign principle, may not foreign blood, 
blood not human, by the process of generation, find 
its way into the veins of mankind? The supposition 
appears to me to be not unreasonable. I do not 
think that human nature has been generally corrupt- 
ed in this way; but that there have been and are 
now corruptions of this sort, to some extent and 
in several nations, I firmly believe and think I can 

prove. , T f 

§ I. My first argument is based on the l.aw ot 
Moses, where the intercourse that would effect or 
produce this abomination, is forbidden. Let us hear 
the Law: "Wosoever lieth with a beast, shall sure- 
ly be put to death." a It may not be proper to 
quote to the reader the whole law on this subject; 
we refer him to Leviticus xxiii. 23—35, and xx. 15, 
16. The thing here forbidden is culled 'confusion; 
and the Jews are thus enjoined: "Defile not your- 
selves in any of these things; for, in all these, the 
nations are defiled which 1 cast out before you." b 
"For they committed all these things, and there- 
fore I abhorred them." c 

Now it is certainly the province of candor to al- 
low, that the reason why this abomination was for- 
aEx.xxU. 19. bLev.xviii.24. cLev.xx. 23. 



444 THE NEW LIGHT. 1 

bidden by Moses, was, that the observance of this 
law might preserve the blood of the Israelites pure 
from beastly infection. What other design could 
the Lawgiver have had? We have seen in a previ- 
ous chapter how strict the Creator was in forming 
all animals in genera and species, So that one could 
not, and indeed would not, of its own accord, inter- 
fere or commingle with another. According to this 
same general law he formed man to be propagated 
after his kind. But, as the human race is rational, 
the Creator depends upon reason, in this respect, to 
do for man what instinct does for the brute creation. 
Yet, as mankind have been corrupted in spirit, and 
reason is too often unheeded, both law and penalty are 
imposed, so that by the infliction of severe punish- 
ments the ends of government may be as far as pos- 
sible obtained. Hence the law of Moses inflicts 
capital punishment upon those infamous wretches 
who would deteriorate their own blood by the com-- 
merce forbidden.' 

A fact mentioned above — a fact, however, here- 
tofore so far as I am advised, almost totally overlook- 
ed by writers and speakers — is of most humiliating 
import; and we blush and hang our heads when we 
remember that the human race is concerned. That 
fact is charged upon the people of Canaan, they 
were openly guilty of this very crime. On this ac- 
count the Lord abhorred them, and their very land 
is said to have spewed them out! When the children 
of Israel saw them, there were many giants amongst 
them, a word that would seem to me to import some- 
thing more than mere humuanity* Among the rest 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 445 

Og is particularly mentioned as a huge monster of a 
man and last of the giants. *'His bedstead was a 
bedstead of iron: is it not in Rabbath of the chil- 
dren of Ammon? Nine cubits was the length there- 
of, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit 
of a man.'^ci That Og was literally a giant and 
not called so metaphorically, appears fully evident 
from what God says to Israel in relation to him 
when he reproves them for their sins: — ^'I destroyed 
the Amorite before them, whose height was like the 
height of the cedars, and he was strong as the 
oaks." e From the length of his bedstead, sixteen 
feet Jive inches^ and its widih^ seve ri fiet four inches^ 
we may calculate that Og was full sixlaeii feet high^ 
Monster that he was! And can we suppo^^ethat he 
was only and purely a man ? Did we see some huge 
animal like this in our day, stalking over the land, 
would we not all rise up against him? would not ev- 
ery gun menace him with fire and brimstone? 
Would we deem him of our race? I think we would 
serve him like Israel did Og, and keep his bedstead 
in perpetual memorial. 

But it is not to be supposed that the ought-to-be 
nameless abomination v/e have alluded to, always 
resulted in the production of giants: it did, however, 
always produce monsters more or less revolting ac- 
cording to the nature of the parties concerned. 
Various grades of these monsters might have been 
found among the ancient Ganaanites, among whom 
every evil reached its impious climax. This is 
sufficiently proved by the fact that the commerce in 
question was charged upon thera as nations, and that 
dPeut.iii.il, eAmosii. 9. 



446 TES NEW LIGHT. 

they were abharred on the account of it with kin- 
dred abominations. At this date, therefore, we may- 
begin to look for the corruption of human blood, for 
the degeneracy of some nations, till they became 
indeed "the degenerate plant of a strange vine." 

It is worthy of notice, that in the tenth chapter 
of Genesis Moses gives an account of the settling of 
the nations in the earth after the fllood. Wei!, we 
have already proved that Noah and his posterity 
were a race of white people* Of course, in the 
days of Peleg when the earth was divided among 
the descendants of Noah, the color of men had not 
been changed in any nation: they were all of the 
same color. There were no black people before 
the flood, nor for many ages afterwards, so far as 
I can ascertain. "The whole earth was of one lan- 
guage and of one speech," says Moses; and we 
might add, of one color also. But it came to pass 
that certain nations ''corrupted themselves," that is, 
contracted a spot which the Lord never intended: 
"their spot is not the spot of his children. "^ Why 
may not this mark relate to a natural as well as a 
moral stain? to the color of the Jlesh as well as to 
the complexion of the mind? — It would seem that 
the Jews as well as Gentiles, in the course of years, 
contributed somewhat to this lasting stigma on the 
human race. It is not of very high antiquity. 
"Remember the days of old, consider the years of 
many generations: ask thy father, and he will show 
thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee; when the 
Most High divided to the nations their inheritance 
when he separated the sons of Adam,^' that is to 
f Deut, xxxiL S — 7, S. 



jf ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 447 

say, after the flood, "he set the bounds of the peo- 
ple according to the number of the children of Isra- 
el,'' g — and at that early period human blood was not 
vitiated after the manner of more recent times* 
The several tribes that sprang from the sons of No- 
ah took their positions in different and widely situa- 
ted countries: some of them preserved the knowl- 
edge of the true God and produced Patriarchs who 
have been an honor to the name of man; while 
others fell into every crime, debasing both soul and 
body. 

§11. At this point we start another argument 
from the account that the apostle givesof the heath- 
en nations of antiquity. Before they proceeded so 
far as to corrupt their blood, (as we have seen in the 
case of the Canaanites,) they committed every sin 
which would naturally lead to this ultimate bound 
of covenant-breaking presumption. Read, if you 
please, Paul's account of those sinners in the first 
chapter of Romans. When they had given them- 
selves over to such practices as did dishonor to the 
names of men and women, "God gave them up to 
vile affections,'^ and they finally lost their "natural 
affection," till they sought objects of gratification 
forbidden both by nature and revelation. Vile and 
unnatural affections led them on not only to the prac- 
tises of sodomy and catamy,* but, as a natural con- 
sequence, to others of a still more unnatural char- 
acter. He who will commit sodomy, or submit to 
Liatamy orpathecism, would be guilty of bestiality 

* These words must remain undefined. The reader will seek 
means of learning their import if he does not already know it. 
g Deut. ixiii.8. 



448 THE NEW LIGHT. 

upon occasion. These crimes are kindred and fol- 
low from the same "unnatural affections." Similar. 
or rather the same crimes are asserted of Sodom 
and Gomorrah; for the people of those cities not 
only committed fornication (as Jude informs us,) but 
they "went after strange flesh," a term equivalent to 
other flesh; and this may mean not only sodomy and 
catamy, but, as is more likely, the abomination un- 
der consideration. It seems, then, every way rea- 
sonable to conclude, that this defilement of human 
blood was brought about in this way by such men as 
the old Canaanites and the inhabitants- of Sodom 
and Gomorrah. 

§ III. Another argument is derived from the 
progression of evil during the Four general mon- 
archies that did, at different intervals, bear rule over 
the whole earth, till the Man of Sin grew to matu- 
rity under the last or Roman dynasty. These four 
monarchies were symbolized to Daniel by a great 
Image, in the following way. The king of Baby- 
Ion had dreamed a remarkable dream, but when he 
awoke he found that the thing had gone from his rec- 
ollection. Wise men were consulted both to bring 
the forgotten dream back to the mind of the mon- 
arch, and to give him its interpretation. But they 
failed in the first, and of course in the last. At last 
Daniel the captive Prophet is announced to the 
king as one skilful in these occult matters. He 
stands before the king and tells him what he had 
dreamed, and then proceeds to give the interpreta- 
tion. To be brief, the Prophet says — *'Tfaou, O 
kiDg5saw«st, and behold a great Image. This great 



t)N TBTE CORKtPtlON O^ ITCfi^IA^ B'LOOD. 44^ 

Irfiage whose brightness was excellent, stood before 
thee; and the form thereof was terrible. The 
bead of this Inr^age was of fine gold, his breast and 
arms of silver, hi^ belly and his thighs of bra^s, his 
legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part ^{ olay/'g" 
Such was the drean^. The wfeole interpretation 
amounts to this. The kingdom of Babjion headed 
by Nebuchadne-2;2-ar, v,^as the head of gold. The 
Medo-Persian dynasty is symbolized by the breast 
and arms of silver. The belly and thighs of brass 
represent Alexander the Great and his Macedonians. 
The legs and feet of iron and clay indicate the Ro- 
Tnan empire in its Pagan state, fated to many divis- 
ions and changes, till its final destruction shall come 
by the descent of the Son of Man, when a fifth uni- 
versal Monarchy shall arise over the ruins of Pagan- 
ism and Romanism, and remain for ever and ever. 

Now, I do not wish to call in question the com- 
monly received views of this passage; but I would 
add another feature to the explication which has not 
been generally noticed. It appears to me that this 
Image is taken to represent the progression of crime 
in the history of the world, as well as the succession 
of kingdoms. The head of the Image was of gold^ 
to indicate that from the flood to the da,ys of Nebu- 
chadnezzar was the purest portion of secular histo- 
ry. The breast and arms were of silver, a metal 
inferior in puritj^ and value to fine gold: and hence 
the Medo-Persian dynasty, all things considered, 
was more corrupt than that of Babylon. Kext come 
the belly and thighs of the Image, and these are 
of brass, a metal inferior to silver; which shows 
^*^ h Dan. ii. passim. 



459 THE NEW LIGHT. 

that the Grecian Monarchy was more impiotis thait 
that of Media and Persia. Last of all we have the 
legs and feet of the isnage, and these are of iron 
and claj, substances still less pure than even brass; 
and it follows that the Roman kingdom was lower 
in point of morals than any of the preceding, and 
that iniquity comes to its maximum degree under 
this iron-hearted, long-lasting, and most blasphe- 
mous power. I think the history of the world will 
bear out the above scale of descending wickedness-: 
for though, from earliest times there have been in- 
stances of very great wickedness^ as a general rule^ 
with some local exception?, the world has been get- 
ting worse and worse since the Flood. And as^ from 
the creation it augmented its wicked*ness till God de- 
stroyed it by a flood of water; so it will now con- 
tinue to abuse the patience of God till he will again 
destroy it, but with a dehige of fire. And as the 
righteous escaped the water then, so they will here- 
after escape the fire. 

The above views appear to me to receive strength 
from several declarations of the Prophets. I have 
selected a few instances^ and they shall immediately 

follow a- 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

V. Human Blood* has been corrupted in some 
Nations. 

Different Views as to the Origin of Negroes — The Satyr considered 
at large — The Probability that Bestial Idolatry produced an 
Amalgam in Human Blood — Argument from Jeremiah — From 
Ezekiel — From- the Prophets generally — The Idol Feasteand 
Solemnities particularly Considered, Tammuz, Baal, Ashtaroth, 
&c. — 

§ I. Various, conflicting, and even contradicto- 
ry have been the views of men relative to the ori;- 
gin of the Negro Race. Some ascribe it to one 
cause and some to another: but far the greatest por- 
tion of those who have said any thing on the subject, 
ascribe the blackness and other peculiarities of the 
negro, to climate, food, &c. &lc. But all their spec- 
ulations are unsatisfactory to me, and cannot satisfy 
a philosopher: for, if climate be the cause, how is 
it that the same climates, for ages immemorial, have 
produced both white and black? If food or diet be 
the cause, why is it that it does not turn all into ne- 
groes that eat it? or why should not the food of the 
white man, given to the negro, turn, his color and 
create him into a white man? If our climate makes 
us white, why does it not operate, in time, upon our 
Negroes, and make them white too? Again — Why 
will not the climate of Nubia, Abysinia, Borneo, 
&c. convert us into negroes when we go and reside 
there? No, reader, there is another cause for the 
black skin, the wooly head, the flat nose, the thick 
lip, the inverted shin, and the diagreeable fetor^ 



453 THE NEW LIGHT. 

I cae think of no reasonable cause bat the one al- 
ready hinted atj the degeneracy of blood by besti- 
ality. It is not for me to say with positive certain- 
ty, with what species of animal this unnatural in- 
tercourse first existed, I will not indeed affirm 
that it was only with one species; for it may have 
"been with severaL But I will affirm my conviction^ 
that it was with some animal that approached very 
near in form and size to the human race, of which 
there are several varieties in the very countries 
whence the negroes come and where they are in- 
diginous. Is it therefore unreasonable to conclude, 
that in former times, in that warm country where 
the passions are knovvn to be strong and uncontroll- 
able, the human race in some instances nriingled 
with Ourang Outangs^ baboons^ or other similar Afri- 
can animals approximating very nearly to the size 
and figure of man? This, I believe, is the original 
source of the depravation of human blood in the 
negro tribe, of that fearful dissimilarity in figure 
and color which obtains between purely human per- 
sons and those degraded Africans who have been 
imported into our midst, and whom the laws of slave- 
ry hold under involuntary servitude* Those almost 
semi-human African animals, as I am compelled to 
suppose, the ''wild-men of the woods'^ or ourang 
ouiangs^ in relation to the human race, have acted 
as the Prophet foresaw in reference to matters un- 
der the Fourth universal monarchy, ^Hhey have 
mingled themselves with the seed of men," ^ have 
formed a weak inferior kingdom, but there is no mu- 
tual cleaving together of the two diflferent natures, 
"*• Dan. ii. 43. 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HITMAN BLOOD, 453 

What two things are farther apart than a white man 
and a negro! What a gulf or chasm between 
them; and yet strange to say, what an attraction is, 
hy the vices of men, establised between them! For 
ever repelling, yet for ever mingling; for ever two, 
yet striving to be one! 

§ 11. The probabilities in favor of the forego- 
ing views are corroborated by what is incidentally 
expressed in reference to the destruction of Baby- 
lon, Idumea, and other heathen countries and cities. 
Touching Babylon, Isaiah says, (for the abomination 
of which we speak, pertained, as we have already 
said, not to Africa alono, but to Asia also, and per- 
haps even to other continents,) "And Babylon, the 
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldee's ex- 
cellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom 
and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither 
shall it be dweU in from generation to generation: 
neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there; nei- 
ther shall the shepherds make their fold there. But 
wild beasts of the field shall lie there; and their 
houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls 
shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there." 6 — 
Against Idumea we have the following testimony: 
^'The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet w^ith 
the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall 
cry to his fellow." c — Now it must not be forgotten 
that this deplorable state of things was predicted of 
Babylon and Idumea while they were flourishing 
kingdoms. This whooping and dancing of satyrs^ 
therefore, did not take place, till many years after 
the predictions. 

bIsai.xiiL 19.21. cIsaLxxxiy. 14. 



454 THE NEW LIGHT. 

M. Voltaire, the witty French philosopher, at- 
tempted on a time to give an account of the Jewish 
nation; which he did much to the annoyance of the 
Israelites who resided in several European countries: 
for he spoke of the Jews as anciently guilty of best- 
iality, and, indeed, as the only people who had 
laws against this unnatural crime. The Jews re- 
plied to him in a way that manifestly worsted the 
philosopher, but acknowledged the existence of such 
a law. The words of Voltaire are these — and I 
quote them merely to get a clue to the word satyrs, 
which the reader will find to be an important one 
in this investigation ; — ''What a people ! such strange 
abominations seem to deserve a punishment equal to 
that which the golden calf drew down upon them. 
This fact was brought in only to show what the 
Jewish nation was: bestiality must have been very 
common among them, since it was the only nation ^ 
in which the laws were obliged to prohibit a crime 
which was not even suspected in any other place 
by any other legislator." Voltaire continues — "It 
is probable, that young people, in those {^hocking 
countries, corrupted human nature so far as to have 
had carnal commerce with goats, as the story is 
told us of some shepherds in Calabria. It is still 
uncertain whether any monsters were produced by 
this unnatural copulation, and whether there is any 
foundation in the ancient stories of fauns, satyrs^ 

* M. Voltaire is at fault here. The Canaanites were guilty of 
this corruption ; perhaps also the Arabs, as he afterwards seems 
to confess; and it is certain that many among other Gentiles had 
done the same. See ^'Letters of certain Jews to Voltaire," p. 6S 
— 162, where this charge is confuted. 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 455 

centaurs, and miniataurs: history says there is, but 
natural philosophy has not yet cleared up this mon- 
strous account." 

So far Voltaire. In answer to him the learned 
Israelites state as a matter of history, that " this 
crime was spread over Palestine; ancient historians 
inform us that it was not unknown in the Indies, and 
to the scandal of human nature, it was in some de- 
gree consecrated by religion in Egypt." (p. 164.) 
We may conclude, therefore, that this act of confu" 
don (for by that term it is remarkable that Moses de- 
signates it,) was practised by some of the most de- 
praved of the Jews, by the Canaanites, by the peo- 
ple of the Indies and by the Egyptians and even 
Arabs as Voltaire thinks* A practice so common in 
so many nations, could not fail to confuse and cor- 
rupt human blood in many instances and places. 
Monsters certainly often resulted, and whether they 
were fauns, satyrs, or what not, is no matter: human 
blood was corrupted^ and this is the point now 
proved. 

But when we come to look more narrowly into 
the meaning of the word satyr as used in the fore- 
going Scriptures, we shall find that it is no fabulous 
animal, but a real being, and, as I think, a monster, 
part man and part brute. Dr. John Brown of Had- 
dington speaks of it thus — "A fabulous being, rep- 
resented by the ancients by half a man and half a 
goat." He then adds, giving his opinion, "It was^ 
perhaps, the Aorned ozo/, or a kind of ape^ plenty of 
which haunted the ruins of Babylon." But you will 
permit me to say^ 1, it could not have been a fabu- 



4S&'- THE NEW IiI@EP2'» 

lous animal; for how could such a being, as had n@- 
real existence inhabit ruins, cry to its mate,, or dance 
among fallen towers'? iMor, 2, could it have been 
an owl J for owls of several kinds are mentio^ned by 
the prophet, and this animal as distinct from owl& 
and amo^ng "the doleM creatu^res" that should in- 
fest the ruins, I cannot conceive that a, prophet of 
God would speak of a fabulous being as a real one^. 
or that in a list of owls he would mentioa another 
creature of another name as an owL Mr, Brown^. 
Mowever, is inclined to think, that the 5.a/?/r was a 
monkey^ or an animal belonging, to that species.^ 
Here he seems to me to advance towards the truth 
without seemiag conscious of it* For the fact seem& 
well established that a satyr was always conceived 
to be a mixture of man and beasts. This is the 
meaning of the term among the ancients* And 
why should the prophet use the word in any other 
than its usual meaning? The only difficulty lies ii> 
identifying the kind of beast^ of which and maa 
the satyr is a compound* I confess that the goat 
has been specially mentioned: but all analogy is 
against the hypothesis, and the supposition is absurd 
on many accounts* The monkey race, particularly 
the ourang ouiang^ filling up, as it daes, the highest 
style of beast, and coming next to man in the scale 
of being, is indicated by all the cireumstances, and 
by climate and ceuntry, as the most likely of all 
beasts to have been appropriated to tbis infamous 
service. 

The learned Mr. Entick in his Latin Dictionary 5. 
defines the word satyr^ '^a,wild< maix.;" and^ '^h^ 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 457 

wild man of the woods" is the usual name of the 
Qurang outang. The satyr mentioned Isai, xxxiv. 14, 
may be defined from the Hebrew seir^ as a hairy or 
Tjoooly one. The term had been used more early in 
prophecy, namely, at chapter xiii. 21 where Dr. 
Clarke says it means "a kind of beast like to aman.-\ 
and the name satyr^ in this instance, seems nearly 
equivalent to the Hebrew mannots^ monkeys* Some 
learned men, for the phrase, 'satyrs shall dance 
there," translate the Hebrew, '-Baboons shall gam- 
bol there:" but as satyrs have always been under- 
stood to be part man and part beast, and as these 
satyrs^ (in the language of Dr. Clarke.) "are beasts 
like to men," it seems most reasonable, upon the 
whole, to conclude, that the mixture in question is 
that of man with animals of the monkey kind. 
From this source it seems, then, that human blood 
has been tainted, and portions of bestial life, to this 
hour, are runing in the veins of several nations. 
In this way I account for the origin of the negro 
race — for certainly negroes, as such, made no part 
of the primeval creation. We have already seen 
there were none before the flood, nor for many ages 
afterwards. 

§ HI. I shall now attempt to prove, that, how- 
ever great the wickedness of men was, by which 
this horrid condition of human blood has been 
brought about, it is a matter clearly analogous to 
those other unnatural vices of which men have fre- 
quently been guilty, and that the tendency of these 
lesser but revolting vices was always downwards to^r 
wards bestiality^ 



/ 

458 THE NEW LIGHT. 

(a) An allusion to this may be discovered in the 
prophecy of Jeremiah, where the Lord says by him 
to Israel; ''For of old time I have broken thy yoke, 
and burst thy bands, and thou saidst, I v*^ill not 
transgress; when upon every high hill and under 
every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. 
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right 
seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate 
plant of a strange vine unto me? For though thou 
w^ash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, thine 
iniquily is marked before me^ saith the Lord God."GJ 
Now does it not seem from this, that Israel had not 
only polluted their minds with a moral stain, but 
their very bodies with a physical one which nitre 
and soap could not efface? But further: Upon the 
restoration of Israel from the captivity of Babylon, 
Ezra found '^ that the priests and the Levites had 
not separated themselves from the people of the 
land,'^ but that they were 'Moing according to their 
abominations, even of che Canaanites, the Hittites, 
the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Moabites, the Egyp- 
tians, and the Amorites/'e The abominations of 
all these nations have already been described, among 
which was the prevalent vice which we have been 
compelled too often to name. 

(b) The prophet Jeremiah was commissioned to 
take the wine-cup of divine fury, and to cause all 
the nations concerned to drink it, "And they shall 
drink," it is said, "and be moved, and be mad, be- 
cause of the sword that I will send among them." 
After the reception of the great commission the 
prophet says, ''Then I took the cup at the hand of 

d Jer. ii. 21,22. e Ezra. ix. I. 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 459 

the Lord, and made all the nations unto whom the 
Lord had sent me, to drink; to wit, Jerusalem, and 
the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the 
princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an as- 
tonishment, a hissing, and a curse — (as it is this 
day,) — Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants 
and his princes, and all his people; and all the 
MINGLED PEOPLE and all the kings of the land of 
Uz, and all the king? of the land of the Philistines 
and Ashkelon and Azzah andEkron, and the rem- 
nant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the children 
of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyrus, and all the 
kings of Zydon, and the kings of the isles which are 
beyond the sea, Dedan and Tema and Buz, and all 
that are in the utmost corners, and all the kings of 
the MINGLED PEOPLE that dwell in the desert ^^'^ &:c. 
&Lc.f It seems, then, after this enumeration of dis- 
tinct tribes and nations, there was a mingled peo- 
ple who inhabited the desert: and by this phrase I 
understand a people whose blood had been contam- 
inated by the unholy admixture to which I must 
here again allude. People of different nations may 
indeed mingle together in society ; but here is a min- 
gled people — the people themselves are mingled, 
holding and showing every shade of color, from the 
fairest mulatto down to the jet black and full-blood- 
ed negro, as I think and reason. — 

(c) The progression of crime was shown to Ezek- 
iel in the visions of the Lord, at Jerusalem, when 
he was seated near "the door of the inner gate that 
iooketh towards the north." And God asked. Son 
of man, seest thou what thej do?'^ and the abomi^ 
f Jer. 2XV. 15—24. 



460 THE NEW lilGH'F. 

fiations committed are mentioned to the pro|>heta. 
The prophet is next brought to the door of the 
court, and sees a hole in the walL He digs into 
the wall, till he beholds a door. He is then ordered; 
to go in and behold ^'the wicked abominations that 
they do here/' "So I went in and saw," says the 
prophet; ''and behold, every form of creeping things^ 
and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the 
house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round 
about,'' The prophet is then mortified with the 
sight of the ancients of the house of Israel commit- 
ting their idolatries "in the dark, every man in the 
chambers of his imagery!" and he hears them say, 
"The Lord seeth us not — the I^ord hath forsaken 
the earth." As if this was not enough to fill up the 
measure of their sin, the Lord speaks to the faith- 
ful prophet, "Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt 
see greater abominations that they do. Then he 
brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's 
house which was towards the north; and, behold^ 
there sat a woman weeping for Tammuz."^' — I leave 
the reader here to follow the downward tendency of 
the evil, (for the house of Israel becomes worse and 
worse,) and turn my attention to an explanatory re- 
mark.. 

(d) When idolatry hath fully taken possession of 
the human heart, it is then prepared, as all history 
evinces, for every species of uncleanness and cor- 
ruption. Not a nation or individual on the earth 
can be found as an exception to the truth of this 
remark. When the house of Israel had apostatized 
from God, therefore, and worshipped the hosts of 
g Ezeik. viii. passim». 



ON THE CORRUPTION OP HUMAN BLOOD. 461 

feeaven, made idols of beasts^ and followed their ap- 
petites to do evil, we must naturally look for that 
evil to be of the most forbidding character. In 
confirmation of this, rites such as that mentioned in 
the above scripture, may be instanced. Ezekiel in 
vision saw a woman sit weeping for Tammuz. This 
idol is otherwise known as Adonis, Osiris, Adonosiris, 
and perhaps also as Chemosh and Baalpeor. It is 
said of him in fable, that Venus fell in love vvith 
him on account of his beauty, which caused Mars, 
the husband of Venus, lo kill him. Venus lamen- 
ted his death in a most bitter manner, and in imita- 
tion of this sorrovv of Venus, the Syrians, Phene- 
cians, &c. held a stated solemnity to bewail his 
fcite. When the rains or dissolving snows made a 
river that was also called Adonis to swell and appear 
red, the women began their lamentations, and con- 
tinued loud, long, and most tenderly, as if for the 
death of a beloved child. To all this they added a 
cruel whipping of themselves with rods or switches. 
When this was done, they proceeded to offer sacri- 
fices for the dead. This will explain that part of 
the 106th Psalm where it is said, ^'•They joined 
themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices 
of the dead." (verse 28.) But joy must succeed to 
sorrow; for immediately after eating these sacrifi- 
ces, they pretended that Tammuz had come to life 
and risen to heaven, whereupon they rejoiced and 
shaved their heads. It was pretended that the 
priests in Egypt had found him alive. When this 
news arrived, the women shouted and danced as 
persons mad for joy. Ezekiel beheld this foolish 



462 THE NEW LIGHT* 

institution among the Jews with all its obscene and 
bestial rites. 

(e) As farther proof of the downward and bes- 
tial tendency of idolatry, some account of the idol 
Baal may be given in the words of Brown: — "Who 
the first Baal was, whether the Chaldean Nimrod or 
Belus, or the Tyrian Hercules, &c. is not so evi- 
dent as that the Pheneeians adored the sun under 
that name; though perhaps their idolatry, described 
to us by profane writers, is not the most ancient, 
but a more recent form introduced by the Assyrians. 
Every sort of ahominalion was committed on the fes- 
tivals of this idol, and of Ashtaroth his mate. In 
his cAama7i?m or temple, was kept a perpetual fire; 
altars were erected to him in groves or high places, 
and on the tops of houses.'^ Of Israel it is said by 
a divine historian; "And they left all the com- 
mandments OF THE Lord thetr God, and made them 
molten images, two calves, and made a grove, and 
worshipped the ho&t of heaven, and served Baal'. 
And they caused their sons and their daughters to 
pass through the fire, and used divination and en- 
chantment, and sold themselves to do evil in the 
sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger."" A To 
all the iniquities af the above list, the children of 
Israel had added public houses for sodomy, as 
appears from the tact that the pious king Jo- 
siah "broke down the houses of the sodomites that 
were by the House of the Lord where the women 
wove hanging* for the grove." i Indeed, when it is 
charged that the Israelites left '^all the C03i3f and- 
MENTs" of Jehovah, that command inhibiting besti- 
h^ Kinors xvii. 16, IT., i 2 Kinoes xxiii. 7.. 



ON TEPB CORRUPTION OF HITMAN BLOOi>i 463 

ality was left among the rest, and there came on, it 
seems, a total depravity among those idolaters, k 

(f) Ashtaroth, Ashtoreth, or Astarte, was another 
idol of the Sidonians, adopted by the Jews in their 
apostacy from God. "The Phenicians about Car* 
thage reckoned Ashtaroth the same as Juno of the 
Romans'^ — a female deity or goddess of lust. "Lu- 
eian thinks, and I suppose very justly, that the moon 
or queen of heaven was worshipped under thi* 
name. Cicero calls her the fouth Venus of Syria. 
The Phenician priests affirmed to Lucian that she 
was Europa, the daughter of their king Agenor, 
whom Jupiter carried off by force, and who was de- 
ified by her father's subjects to comfort him for his 
loss. Perhaps she is the Aester or Eastre of the 
Saxons, from whom our term Easter is derived; and 
not far different from the British goddess Andraste. 
She is variously represented: sometimes in a long, 
sometimes in a short habit; sometimes as holding a 
long stick with a cross at the top; sometimes she 
is crowned with rays; at other times with a bull's 
head whose horns, according to Sanchoniatho, were 
emblems of the new moon. Her temple at Aphek 
in Lebanon, was a horrible sink of the most bes- 
tial lewdness; because there, it was pretended, 
Venus had her first intercourse with her beloved 
Adonis or Tammuz. She was probably worshipped' 
by the Amorites in the days of Abraham, and gave 
name to Ashtaroth-karnaim, that is, the Ashtaroth 
with two horns." (Gen. xiv. 6.) [For the same rea- 
son a place is called Ashtaroth, perhaps the same 
p^ace, in Joshua xii. 4.] Soon after the death of^ 
kHcs. iv. 13, 14 



464 THE NEW LIGHT. 

Joshua the Israelites began to adore her; and in all 
their lehipses into idolatry, as under Jephthah, EH, 
Solomon, &c. she was one of their idols. Jezabel 
the wife of Ahab settled her worship in all the shock- 
ing abominations thereof among the Ten Tribes, and 
appointed four hundred priests for her service! Un- 
der Manassah and Amon, she was, with great pomp 
and care, adored in Judah, and the women wrought 
hangings for her lesidence." — -Now the moral of all 
this to me is, that during the reic;n and triumphs of 
idolatry among Jews and Gentiles, (among Gentiles 
more especially— for the Jews only borrowed these 
views f*om their neighbors, and it cannot be sup- 
posed that they sank so beastly low as the Gentiles,) 
human blood became to some extent depraved by 
the admixture of foreign lifej and in process of time 
the mingled people found a residence for themselves. 
This abomination seems to have commenced in Asia 
and Africa, and finally reached a sort of nationality 
in several portions of the latter continent. If among 
the most knowing and the most pious people upon 
earth, the Jews, such revolting vices as were hinted 
above and described by the prophets, obtained, and 
obtained so alarmingly as to force the blush upon 
the faithful historian, for what forms of vice, cruel- 
ty, and bestiality, may we not look, what may we 
not imagine as inevitably occurring, among the mis- 
erable nations inhabiting the benighted countries of 
the East? 

(g) If it be objected to all this, that in the six- 
teenth chapter of Ezekiel Jerusalem is condemned 
and reproached, — her mother a Hittite, and her 



ON TSE COfeBUPxrON Oj? HUX&N BLt»OD» 465 

rather an Amorite— the sister of Sodom and Sama- 
ria, and less righteous than even thej:— we replj, 
all this is true. Jerusalem became the most wicked 
«f all cities; she nev«rtheles borrowed her idola- 
tries, as we have said, from the heathen; and if in 
this particular instance she exceeded even Sodom 
and Samaria, that fact gives the greater force to our 
argument. It cannot be supposed that the whole 
nation of Israel, as such, was worse than the Gen- 
tiles. The rulers were corrupt and led the people 
astraj. It was perhaps at the most corrupt epoch of 
Jewish history that a prophet complained that he 
only was left ahve of all that feared God, and they 
sought his life; but God told him there were seven 
thousand men in the nation who had not bowed the 
kn^e to the image of Baal. But should any con- 
tend that the Jews were the worst nation on all the 
earth, I may admit they were, some of them, had 
enough to corrupt the nature of man in the way I 
suppose. But be it as it may, such a corruption 
without doubt exists; and charge it on Jew, or 
charge it on Gentile, the result is the same as to our 
argument. No nation, as such, is guilty; but indi- 
viduals belonging to some of the niations of the 
earth, male or female, or both, have, to my view, 
brought about this unnatural mixture. My view 
in quoting so largely from the prophecies and in re- 
ferring to many others which we have not room to 
quote, has been to show, that the inevitable tendea- 
cy of idolatry was downwards to this point: and I 
believe that idolatry reached, long since, its lowest 
and darkest^egree, its lasting and most shameful 



466f Turn i^Ew MGS-F*. 

result, in mingling human life, to some extent, with 
a lower nature, and that the proofs of this abound 
I10W5 especially in the negro race*- 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
VL Human Blood has been corrupted m 

SOME NATIONS. 

Objections answered-— Objections from Acts xvii. S'.S — From Di.3-- 
similarity in Conformations — From mixed Breeds not propaga- 
ting their kinds — Remarks on the Simia troglodytes — Admis • 
sions of Dr. John Mason Good — Reflections on the Reign oil 
king Solomon — Idolatry ever tending downwards to the amal- 
gamation of Human Blood with a lower Natu?e. 

I shall now briefly glance at some of the princi- 
pal objections to the foregoing views. 

§ lY. I am aware of the objections that will be 
presented against the above vievts: one principal 
one will be brought from the sermon of Paul at the 
Areopagus in Athens — ^'God hath made of one 
blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of 
the earth, and hath determined the times before ap- 
pointed, and the bounds of their habitation." a I 
answer to this, that this is the very thing for which 
I have been contending, and have, I think, even 
proved. God, when he made man, made but one 
blood; and, after the flood, he settled all nations in 
Iheir respective territories and fixed thd bounds of 
a Acts xt'ii. 26. 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 467 

their habitations. But have I not proved already 
that all the Antediluvians were fair or white peo- 
ple; that the people who sprang from the loins of 
Noah, in all the earth, were of one language and 
one original color; and that the Patriarchs and their 
wives retained the same hue of skin? When it is 
said that God ^'made of one blood all nations of 
men," what is proved? Is it proved that God made 
negroes in the beginning of his works ? Is it proved, 
that climate and food have contributed to change 
the original and fair color which at first was given 
to man? Not at all. It is proved, rather, that we 
have been contending for the truth — that the divine 
wdll was not only that man should keep away all 
stain of sin from his soul, but all taint of beastly in- 
fection from his blood and body. As the thing has 
turned out, however, purity in the one case or in the 
other, does not seem to have been universally pre- 
served. Man was made in a warm climate, in a lat- 
itude most favorable to the growth of the black man, 
which shows that there is nothing in mere climate 
favorable to the production of the Negro. He will 
generate in all climates, and the wilds of Siberia or 
Greenland, in a thousand ages, will neither whiten his 
skin nor unkink his hair. The only means that threat- 
en to whiten the Negro skin in the United States, 
in the West Indies, &:c. is the means, alas, too com- 
mon adopted. The traveler may behold every- 
where the mulatto, or half breed, anc from that point 
up to the fourth, eighth, or sixteenth, and higher 
still till the pigmentum nigrum loses its distinctive 
form and the man becomes unknown as a Negro, 



468 THE NEW LIGHT. 

The foreign blood is thus distributed and we lose 
sight of it, just as we would by putting a drop or 
two of blood into ^ hogshead of water — Stir all to- 
gether and the blood will become invisible — stilly it 
is there ! 

Another objection may be raised from the fact 
that those animals which advance nearest to the hu- 
man race, are nevertheless dissimilar in several re- 
spects, having either more or less vertebrae of the 
spine, and otherwise dissimilar. — This cannot be a 
valid objection so long as it is true that there have 
been, even in our own country, monsters produced, 
concerning which the most obscure hint is all that is 
allowable here. 

Another, and the strongest of all objections, is, 
that mixed or mingled breeds, do not propagate their 
kinds. This, I admit, is a general rule, but not a 
universal one. Instances to the contrary may be 
produced, if I am not wholly mistaken. But were 
we entirely unable to show an exception to the rule 
among the lower animals, the existence of negroes 
would prove an excption amongst men. Can any 
one imagine that the white man and the negro had 
the same common origin? that Adam and Eve are 
equally the father and mother of both? All reason, 
all analogy, and all Scripture, forbid such a conclu- 
sion. But that all the purely human race sprang 
from the same original stock, there can be no doubt. 
And my doctrine is, that our race, in some nations, 
has been perverted: and on no other principle can I 
account ior the great difference between the white 
man and the negro. 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 469 

§ V. A fact that adds probability to the views al- 
ready expressed, is the discovery of an African an- 
imal between the ourang-outang and man. It has 
been carefully examined anatomically, and found 
to approach much nearer to the human species 
than the ourang, and is decidedly more intelligent 
and cheerful. Now when we consider this fact, 
with another, namely, that there are some forty or 
fifty species of monkeys peculiar to Africa alone, or 
that are not to be found in any other portion of the 
globe, and that some of these most strongly re- 
semble the negro race originally found in the same 
country, the conclusion is not fanciful, that all these 
animals are kindred, or participate more or less in 
a common consanguinity. The animal referred to 
above is called the simia troglodytes^ and may be 
reckoned the highest style of beast, approaching to, 
and filling up that link in the chain of being be- 
tween man and the brute creation. It appears to 
me that from this point, humian blood may have 
been corrupted; nay, it seems evident that this cor- 
ruption has actually happened. Climate , food, man- 
ners, or disease, would never, it appears to me, pro- 
duce such a monstrous dissimilarity. 

But if this be so, the inqusitive reader will de- 
mand, how shall we act in reference to the Negro 
Race? shall we be cruel to them, and in all respects 
treat them as brutes? 

You will allow me to say, that we should use cru- 
elty to none of God's creatures: and negroes, though 
they are, as I think, not a direct creature of Jeho- 
vah, should, for this very reason, be treated with 



470 THE NEW LIGHT. 

the greater humanity. We should pity them, and 
as far as possible, ameliorate their degraded con- 
dition. 

Here our benevolence should stop, and our famil- 
iarity should extend not a whit farther. We knov/ 
hy intuition, or by instinct, that we transgress by 
making them either wives or husbands. But sa 
long as they are in our midst, we cannot allow them 
to be our equals in any respect. Either we must 
be in subjection to them, or they must be to us: and 
it will not take long for us to determine a matter in 
itself so plain and indisputable. 

I would, however, discountenance and repudiate 
all traffic in Negroes. It is a species of commerce 
at which the finer feelings of the heart revolt, and is 
as unnatural as the unfortunate beings themselves. 
Let those who own them treat them kindly, as kind- 
ly as the nature of the case will allow; or, let their 
owners seek means of returning them to their na- 
tive forests in Africa where they belong. But I in- 
sist upon it that they should not be set free and re- 
main among us. The firey and splenetic Abolition- 
ist will growl upon the reading of this; but, while 
reason, and law, and religion, are all plainly on this 
side of the subject, I care but little for the froth of 
political demagogues who have not a whit more af- 
fection for the black man (very likely not even as 
much, at best no more) than the writer of this arti- 
cle. But I close my argument here, and will con- 
clude my book by a general view of the doctrine of 
slavery, after a tew more sections. 

§ VI. Dr. John Mason Good in attempting to ac- 



*®N THE CORHUPTIOl^ OF HUMAN BLOOB. 471 

coant for the varieties of the human race^J assigns 
four causes, climate^ food^ manner of life^ and heredita- 
ry diseases; none of which appears fully to satisfy- 
even himself, for he says — -These varieties "are the 
effect of a combination of causes; some of which 
are obvious, others of which must be conjectured, 
and a few of which are beyond the reach of hu- 
man comprehension." This author, then, after all 
his reasonings and facts, tates this method of con- 
fessing that he does not know the causes which pro- 
duced the black man. He does, indeed, very ele- 
gantly hit the philosophy of Linnaeus, Buffbn, Hel- 
vetius, Monboddo, and Darwin, four of whom as- 
cri'be the origin of man himself to the monkey race, 
from whidh, in the progress of ages, he grew into an 
improved species, acquired several more vertebra, 
of the spine, a great toe instead of a thumb, a bet- 
ter formed larynx and organs of speech, &c.; while 
the last. Dr. Darwin, traces man back to an oyster^ 
after which he becomes an amphibious animal, then 
a biped wholly confined to the land, till finally from 
an androgynal land-lubber he splits into male and 
female, and now stands forth the noble being we 
behold him having neither the tail of the monkey 
nor the gills of a fish. Dr. Good cannot think that 
our great, great, many times great grandfathers and 
mothers were either monkeys or oystersi And here 
the reader, beyond all doubt, will think with him. 
But this philosopher is as much perplexed to assign 
a plausible cause for the origin of the Negro, as 
those five naturalists were to find that of man. They 
j^et aside the Mosaic account, which Dr. Grood very 
bBook of Nature p. 205 &c. 



472 TIIE NEW LIGMlf. 

ablj maintains, and which we believe. It seerns t& 
me impossible that man himself could have sprung 
from the most perfect of the monkey species, even 
from the simia traghdyies ; because within the histor- 
ic epoch, nature has never been known, in anj 
case, thus to have im.proved upon herself. She nev- 
er could, in a thousand ages, either expunge the 
tail from a monkey, or insert three additional joints 
into his backbone. In all this the reasoning of Dr* 
Good is good. The account of. Moses is most true 
and philosophical. But while we are thus compell- 
ed to reject the dreams of unbelieving philosophers' 
as to the origin of man himself, it does not follow 
that all they have said of man as an animal is un- 
true. They were shrewd naturalists and natural 
historians, and the names of Linnaeus and BufFon 
are immortalized by learning and most prodigious 
research. My conception, however, as to the ori- 
gin of the blacks, seems never to have entered intO' 
their philosophy. But if they sincerely believed 
that our race was originally, in the scale of beings 
3ao higher than a pango, ourang, or simia troglodytes^ 
they could not have rejected my idea by reason ©*f 
any physical obstruction supposed to be in the way 
of the intermixture for which I contend. I there- 
fore claim all the authority of the names of Linn^> 
us, Buffon, Helvetius, Monboddo, and Darwin on 
the side I plead in this controversy. These great 
naturalists could have seen nothing impossible, or 
contrary to nature, in the view for which I contends 
I hold, that in some nations human blood has been 
"vitiated by a beastly amstlgam^ and until it is proved 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 473 

that this is physically impossible, I shall continue to 
hold and express the sentiment. I know the con- 
ception is a bold and startling one; it will stir up 
all sorts of spirits against me: but it is time the at- 
tention of the public were called to it; and I am 
willing to stand full-breast against the storm that 
may arise. And so far from rejecting the Mosaic 
account of the origin of man, I give it the most en- 
tire credit: nay, this very credit impels me to adopt 
the views already expressed. I find it difficult to 
believe Piloses, and at the same time to disbelieve 
what I deem a fact, that some nations have corrupt- 
ed their blood. Moses tells us that man was made 
in the image of God, and I have shown that that im- 
age zt-G^ not black. I know it has been said of the 
Negro by a quaint orator, that he is "God's image, 
although carved in ebony;" which may be true in 
some moral sense, but surely not in a physical one* 

§ VII. From some hints already expressed the 
reader may have marked it as our opinion that some 
individuals of the Jewish nation were charg-eable 
with corrupting blood. I will not take upon me the 
responsibility of charging any particular nation. 
I think it most likely that several Eastern countries 
were thus vitiated by the conduct of individuals 
from among them; many parts of Africa especially 
have suffered in this way, till at present the whole 
population is affected. The thing has spread like 
the plague, and may be seen, more or less, over the 
whole world. I am far from saying that climate, 
food, different manners of life, and hereditary dis- 
eases, have had no influence in producing several 



474 THE NEW LIGHT. 

partial varieties among men: but the negro race is 
not so much a variety as he is a distinct beings dis- 
tinct, I mean, in a part of his nature, in a part of 
his blood. I cannot imagine how climate, food, 
manners, or disease, ever could turn an originally- 
white man into such a creature as a genuine Guinea 
Negro. If these causes combined to make the ne- 
gro of a White Man, will not causes of a similar 
or opposite nature combine to make a white man of 
a negro? The rule, it seems to me, would work 
both ways, if it works at all. 

Should any say that some individual Jews could 
have had no part in this matter, from the fact that 
their land did not abound, indiginously, with such 
animals as I have indicated; it may be confessed 
that, so far as we know, it did not: nevertheless, in 
the times of Solomon, who was himself the most 
libidinous of all kings, the nation was sunk to a de- 
gree of corruption that would impel them to do al- 
most any thing. How many wives and concubines 
did this lecherous prince maintain? Did he not 
finally turn idolator and give his heart to the ser- 
vice of foreign wives and foreign deities? He be- 
came, in effect, an Egyptian, giving rein to the most 
infamous pleasures, till he sunk his nature into that 
of a beast rather than of a man. And if the head 
of a great nation acted thus, what did the members 
do? But to silence the objector we will quote one 
passage from the history of those times — ^'For the 
king (Solomon) had at sea a navy of Tharsish with 
the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the 
laavy of Tharsish, bringing gold, and silver, and ivo- 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 475 

ry, and apes, and peacocks/' c We may then fair- 
ly conclude, that once in every three years every 
species of ape was brought by the ship-load into Ju- 
dea from Tharsish on the continent of Africa, o! 
These Jewish and Tyrian voyages were made to 
the gold, ivory, and very likely to the slave-coasts of 
Africa — for Tharsish was either some city on the 
coasts, as Carthage, or the name of the continent^ 
perhaps even both. The monkeys, baboons, pangos, 
ourangs^ and simia troglodytes thus obtained by 
Solomon, may have been kept by the great for 
shows, or caged in their houses, or, after the man- 
ner of some, for even servants — which has often 
been done. They may have been put to purposes 
of idolatry in the temples of the lewd goddesses 
whose solemnities we have noticed — and the ten- 
dency of idolatry is always and uniformly down- 
wards. 

§ VIII. Taking, then, all the circumstances to- 
gether; minutely viewing the law of Moses in its 
provisions against the confusion of the human spe- 
cies; observing the facts ihcii satyrs and other mon- 
sters have been produced, and which exist as 
parts and parcels of history; remembering the ex- 
cessive wickedness to which some Jews sunk them- 
selves in the days of the triumphs of idolatry over 
reason, conscience, and the laws of God; calling to 
mind the beastly ignorance of the Canaanites and 
other nations whom God forsook and suffered to 
walk in their own ways; and, finally, having before 
us and in our midst a race of mingled people con- 
cerning whose origin the greatest philosophers know 
c 1 Kings X. 22. d Encyc. Geog. i. 12. 



476 THE NEW LIGHT. 

nothing bat conjecture — a people differing from the 
original man in shape, color, and mental efficiency; 
I conclude that some great catastrophe befel human 
blood itself, in those nations where these degraded 
beings had their origin and yet have their home. 
And this may be the cause why those nations have 
remained in darkness and barbarism, while other 
nations of the earth have received science, civiliza- 
tion, the arts, religion, government, and law. 

Finally, I might have made an argument from 
the fact that we intuitively or by instinct feel that 
there is an impropriety in our mixing with the negro 
race; which instinct or intuition could not exist were 
we wholly of the same blood with them. The ne- 
gro blood is a degraded blood by universal consent, 
and universal feeling. This I take to be enough, 
and here I end the argument. 



I come, at last, to th^ consideration of a question, 
the answer of which will arouse a spirit of deadly 
hostility against me. I suppose that the whole co- 
hort of Abolitionists will be up in arms, and that 
their papers, pamphleteers, and their verbose and 
garrulous stump orators, will load my name with ev- 
ery opprobrium. All I have to say is. Let the 
heathen rage; let them imagine their vain things: 
the truth of the holy Scriptures will stand when it 
is found (as it will be) that the present organization 
of the so called ''Liberty Party," in this country, 
is nothing above a low and grovelling political move- 
ment, that aims at the severance of the glorious 
Union of our independent States. Let them listen 



ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 477 

to a bold and reckless women who wanders over the 
country, the she-apostle of their infamy, whose im- 
perious cheek is equal to the indecency of the 
smutty language of any opponent; and let them 
preach up the necessity of dividing the North from 
the South in order to elevate some v/retch who lies 
concealed behind the specious machinery: but the 
good sense of the community will detect the impos- 
ture, and show, that not sympathy for the Negro, 
but their own love of power and place is the ruling 
passion of their hearts. 

But it is not my province to discuss the question 
of slavery in its political aspects: this is the work 
of the politician rather than of the divine. My 
business lies with the religious features of the sub- 
ject. "Can a christian man hold negroes in slave- 
ry?" is the question to which I desire to come. Is 
the relation of master and slave in itself necessarily 
sinful? The Scriptures are the only book that will 
give us light in passing over this otherwise dark and 
perplexed ground. And to these we will appeal. 

My first argument has already been presented in 
the foregoing views of the origin of the Negro 
Race. If we may have any confidence in those 
views; if the Negro is not fully and properly man, 
it will follow that he is of inferior blood, and 
that, of course, he must be in subjection so long 
as he resides among us. There is something re- 
markable in regard to those Africans: all other na- 
tions, as if by instinct, make slaves of them at once 
so soon as they lay hands upon them. Even the 
untutored Indian in the wilds of America feels that 



478 THE NEW LIGHT. 

he has a servant in the black man. Whj this sen* 
timent of universal vassalage, if we do not discover, 
as by intuition, that the blood of the Negro is infe- 
rior to that of the rest of mankind? It seems, then, 
that in so far as the Negro is inferior to man, he is 
incapable of self-government. He is fitted for a 
life of laziness and ease; he needs a master to di- 
rect his movements, he can never reach any very 
high and elevated station, unless by the force of 
strong circumstances: and even then, this is no gen- 
eral thing. Looking at the race under a compre- 
hensive view, allowing for any local exceptions, the 
whole race ffills immensely below the ordinary con- 
dition of man. 

The Scriptures allow, secondly and finally, the 
relations of master and slave, and under every dis- 
pensation of religion since the world began, and 
while divine teachers were operating under the 
powers of plenary inspiration, there w^ere masters 
and servants, or slaves, in the most pious households 
on earth. Ncr did any teacher divinely com- 
missioned ever teach those masters to liberate their 
slaves, or even hint that it was wrong, morally 
speaking, to retain them in bondage. This fact is 
of immense weight in this argument. Sins of every 
name are not only mentioned but reprobated by 
the Apostles and prophets. Murder, covetousness, 
adultery, drunkenness, indeed, every species of 
crime, is described in detail, w^hile slavery every 
where practised, is never mentioned as a crime. 
But if the slave may be made free, he may embrace 
the occasion that sets him at liberty; but if his mas- 



ON THE COBRirPTION OF HUMAN BLOOD. 479 

ter is unwilling to grant it, the slave must continue 
under the yoke, though he may be a christian and 
the master afroward and perverse heathen. Such 
is the doctrine of Paul as appears from the follow- 
ing passage: 

^'liet as many servants (original, slates.) as are un- 
der the yoke" (that is, the yoke of bondage of 
slavery.) count their own masters worthy of all hon- 
or, that the name of God and his doctrine be not 
blasphemed. And they that have believing mas- 
ters, let them not despise them, because they are 
brethren, but rather do them service, because they 
are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. 
These things teach and exhort. If any man teach 
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome vvords, the 
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine 
wliich is according to godliness; he is proud, know- 
ing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of 
words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil- 
surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt 
minds and destitute of the truth.*' (1 Tim. vi. I — 5.) 

Here is the character of every political iibolition- 
ist in the land. They teach otherwise than Paul. 
They are destitute of the truth. They consent not 
to the doctrine according to godliness. They are 
proud, knowing nothing but perverse disputings. 
Such is the doctrine of the Bible, of nature, of rea- 
son, and of the unalterable condition of things. 

I now submit my book with diffidence to the scru- 
tiny of a candid public. I might have said much 
more on all the topics introduced f but I remember 
that a bint to the wise is sufficient, and that abso- 



480 THE NEW LIGHT. 

lute demonstration to the simpleton would be una* 
vailing. I thank God that he has spared my life to 
see the work completed, I now feel ready to de- 
part and be with him. I invoke his blessing upon 
my labors; and if there be errors I hope he will for- 
give them. As I have committed my person to the 
care and government of God, so I commit my book 
to his divine providence. To God the Judge of all, 
be glory for ever and ever! Amen, 

FINIS. 



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